


The Pursuit

by merlin07



Category: David Tennant - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 15:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 29,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7980841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin07/pseuds/merlin07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The TARDIS recoiled at The Master's touch, she didn't want him, she wanted her pilot to be the only one to control her. Only her early training to obey combined with her Time Lord's wishes made her cooperate.

The Master was well aware of the time capsule's revulsion due to the psychic link between them. It was almost like she was a real flesh and blood woman and he was taking advantage of her against her will.

In other words....it was thrilling.

He could feel her hesitation in complying with his commands, and it was almost as delicious as the sight of The Doctor frozen in place, unable to escape and the half dead mixed breed laying oh-so-still at his feet.

The vampires had been so easy to bend to his will. He had made them think he was doing this out of the kindness of his hearts, which if they had only eyes to see they would have realised he didn't possess. They believed he was helping them further their cause for some sort of blood sucker world domination, when in fact he was just planning on using them to finally rid himself of the last of The Doctor's defences.

With the half breed and the mongrel gone, it would be just him and The Master with any Time Lord blood running through their veins. The playing field would once again be even. At that thought he snorted, 'as if there were any question who would win'.

His original plan was to let the vampires feast on the mixed breeds then destroy them. Wiping the whole brood out with one sweep. But then, in a moment of sheer brilliance, he decided that instead he would bring them back to Earth and let them go ahead with their world domination with him as their leader.

He had no illusions that the meddlesome Doctor hadn't managed to somehow warn the misfit on the alternate Earth. But that just made it more fun! The thrill of the hunt was in the chase, as well as the capture. He could just picture the fight the half human clone would put up, defending his unworthy self, his misbegotten life. The defiance in the dark eyes, as he futilely stood up to an obviously superior Master.

The Master smiled softly at this imagery. Seeing the meta-crisis in his mind's eye he imagined destroying the one he loved the most. That ridiculous human female, with her propensity toward odd coloured hair. Maybe he would break her first! Defile and crush her and make the abomination watch, helpless against the events.

Then he would be sure The Doctor had front row seats as he killed his erstwhile double, slowly and painfully....

The mongrel he was still undecided about. Would it cause more pain to his fellow Time Lord to kill the actor outright or turn him into a walking leech first, then lock him away to starve to death?

Decisions, decisions!

Turning a knob on the TARDIS' control console, he fancied he could feel the ship shudder but respond.

The Doctor had claimed that the power of the alternate Earth would drain his beloved Time Capsule's energy but The Master made adjustments to her shields, feeding the energy loop from her main crystals back into themselves thus negating the effects. He had allowed himself a laugh when he finished the tweaks needed, imagining the incredulous look on his fellow Time Lord's face as his superior mind was once again triumphant.

Then, thinking a bit more about it, he realised that it was more likely that The Doctor used that as an excuse to not stay too long with these obvious rejects. After all, he had discarded them as the rubbish they were, why go back to visit with garbage?

This time the laugh bubbled out and it rang through the console room. In some ways, he mused I am the cosmic cleaner! Removing the debris and pollutants from the cosmos. First bit of tidying up would be the half breed, and his woman! Then the balance would be restored

Pulling a lever The Master glanced up to look for the female vampire. He spotted her standing by the frozen Doctor running her hands down his lean flanks, her tongue peeking out through her teeth.

"He's not on the menu," he cautioned her, "that was not part of the deal."

She shot him a glare and then pretending indifference picked up her handbag and rummaged in it, eventually pulling out a tube of lipstick to give herself a touch up, "how soon will we be there?" she asked after her ministrations were complete.

"Soon," he forced a smile, "and then you may feast."


	2. Chapter 2

Owing to his more obvious skill with the TARDIS the time capsule landed almost silently on a patch of ground just behind the home that the abomination shared with his 'partner.' The Master was not surprised to find the house empty when he scanned in from his vantage point inside the time capsule. He would have been disappointed had it not been.

He was so confident that he would get what he came for that a delay was only a minor thing. He knew that even if they somehow managed to go to the ends of this universe and on to another the end result would be the same. Playing it out a bit longer was of no consequence; in fact it rather heightened the sense of chase.

The vampires however were almost howling with disappointment. The two large males were tearing the house apart while the female prowled the back garden sniffing like a blood hound on a scent.

"You promised me the source would be here!" Julie snarled, baring her fangs at him.

"I did nothing of the sort," The Master sniffed, "what I said was that I would take you to the source. And I have. I can't help it if he isn't home at the moment."

She hissed in frustration sounding to the Time Lord more like a hot air balloon with a slow leak that a being to be feared. He wanted to laugh at her, but figuring he could still use her to kill the half breed when it came time, and thus leaving his own hands unsullied, he pretended to be contemplating their next move.

"The source and his human female can't have gone far," The Master gestured around them, "after all they have only the primitive technology of your Earth and no time machine. It shouldn't be hard to find them."

Julie's ears seem to prick up, "there's a woman with the source? Is she of legendary blood lines as well?"

"Afraid not," the Time Lord put on a sad face, allowing his lower lip to stick out a bit, "but I'm sure she'd be a refreshing snack."

With that he walked into the house. The doors were thrown open and, as clichéd as it sounded, it really did look like a tornado had hit it. The cyclone power had come not from some act of nature; however, instead the two males were still leaving chaos in their wake. Not that he actually cared but he did hate to see a mess when one wasn't needed, so The Master turned to Julie, "make them clean this up."

"Why?" she shrugged looking around.

"Because, if they return home while we're out looking for them do you want them to be tipped off that someone was here?" the Time Lord's mind found a quick and even if he did say so himself, pretty convincing lie.

The female vampire nodded at this, it made sense to her. With a snap of her fingers she got the two male's attention and barked at them to tidy up. After a moment of delicious defiance shining in their eyes, a moment when The Master allowed himself to hope that they would turn on the silly woman and tear her to shreds, they nodded and set about their tasks.

\------

It was weird to wake up when you were pretty convinced you were dead, David mused as he forced his eyes open. He felt feverish and quite weak. Just breathing seemed to hurt so he was definitely alive. Dead people probably don't feel pain or so he hoped.

Moving seemed out of the question but his legs were bent at a very uncomfortable angle so it was either that or ask somebody to cut them off for him. But from his strange resting place only half on his back on the grating in what was obviously the console room in the TARDIS he couldn't really see anyone to ask anyway.

With great effort he rolled over onto his back, almost blacking out as he attempted to straighten his legs. But taking a few bracing gulps of air and ignoring the protesting muscles as he uncurled them he finally managed to get in a more comfortable position.

From his new vantage point he had a much better view of the room. By just slightly turning his head he could see a pair of brown pin stripe clad legs just a metre away. The legs seemed to go on forever one way and in the other direction ended in a pair of slightly disreputable looking trainers that may have been white as some point in their existence.

The fact that the trainers were stock still alerted David that there was something definitely wrong with the wearer. In the short time he had been travelling with The Doctor he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he had seen him stand still and have two fingers left.

Attempting to sit up was a bad move as a wave of nausea crashed over him. He forced the urge to retch down and decided that a combination of crawling and rolling was a better option. It took him a while but he eventually reached the still Time Lord.

Pulling himself up with the aid of the railing David half leaned, half stood by The Doctor. He could now see the stasis collar holding the Time Lord under its spell. He had encountered one of these before and knew he just had to flick the switch at the back to turn it off. Which under normal circumstances would have been easy. But the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the floor was his death grip, with both hands, on the railing.

The black spots swirling at the edge of his vision were not helping matters either. He shook his head trying to clear them and got another wave of sick feeling as a reward. Knowing he had only a little while before he would pass out again he flipped around leaning his back against the rail locking his knees to prevent them from giving out and lunged forward flipping the switch that turned off the collar.

The Doctor snapped out of stasis just in time to catch David as he went down. The actor's breathing was laboured and he shook from his recent efforts, his skin damp and hot. Scooping him up The Doctor ran to the med bay, and wasted no time getting a saline drip going to help replace the lost fluid. Then he cleaned the neck wound, courtesy of the vampires, and dressed it, and gave the unconscious man an antibiotic shot.

Once David's vitals stopped nose diving and started to settle out he removed the stasis collar from his neck regarding it thoughtfully before slipping it into his pocket. Checking the monitoring equipment once more to confirm the slight improvements in David's condition before heading back to the console room.

Stroking the TARDIS' console he cooed at her reassuring his capsule that he was back in charge and then taking a moment to lock down the controls he stepped outside to take in his surroundings.


	3. Chapter 3

The minute the TARDIS' doors clicked shut The Doctor closed his eyes reaching out telepathically to find the meta-crisis. He winced, "John," he mumbled to himself, "must remember to call him John."

Well John, or the meta-crisis or whatever, was obviously shielding himself because he was not detectable. Or The Doctor hoped that was the case, the only other option would be that he was dead. But even in stasis he would have felt that. He and John were more linked that he would ever let on and the death of part of him would shout in his mind for years. The loss like having a limb chopped off. No, John was still out there, alive, but using the Time Lord in him to prevent detection.

The Master was not so discreet. Obviously he believed The Doctor was still incapacitated and wasn't wasting any energy on shielding when it was not thought necessary. In fact he was broadcasting so loudly it was like he was mere millimetres from The Doctor's ear screaming at the top of his voice.

They had been to Violet's house and not found what they were looking for. He would have known this even if he hadn't read that in The Master's mind. The glass door-wall in the back, overlooking the garden, was smashed and even though an effort had been made to cover that up, the curtains blew in the slight breeze as he approached the house.

The place was deserted, and given the food on the counter and the not quite cool feeling of the tea pot on the table, they hadn't been gone that long. The teapot was mostly full. Leaning in The Doctor sniffed at the contents. Darjeeling!

Looking around he found a cup and poured some of the tea into it. It was barely warm but was still wonderful he smiled as he took a sip. No use letting it go to waste. Then he found a scone going spare and a bit of raspberry jam to go with it. 'Might as well build up some energy reserves' he rationalised, 'before heading out to find the meta....John.'

\------

Violet had tried everything. Pleading, ordering, cajoling, screaming until she was hoarse but she couldn't convince her headstrong husband to let her stay with him. His dark eyes gazed into hers, strong and unyielding.

Even when she used her fists to beat her frustration out on his chest, he made no move to stop her, just waited until the moment had passed then repeated in his soft 'I will brook no nonsense' voice the tone so reminiscent of the Time Lord he had been born from, that she could not come with him. She knew he had made up his mind. Once he had done that, there was nothing she could say or do to make him change it.

She cried in his arms, and he held her close until she got herself back under control before letting her go, "you have to get your family someplace safe. If they can't find me they'll come after you and your family to try to flush me out. They will stop at nothing."

"You keep saying 'they', who are 'they'?" she asked her eyes wide with fear.

"The Master is in the mix somewhere," John replied closing his eyes, "the three with him are unknown to me. I keep getting images of..." with that he stopped, clamping his jaw shut.

"Images of?" Violet prompted.

"Bad things," her husband replied vaguely, clearly unwilling to elaborate, "I promise when this is all over to take you on holiday someplace nice, any place you want. We can lie on a beach and drink our way through the bar or stay in and amuse ourselves, but for now, run, hide and stay hidden."

She started to tell him her plans but he cut her off, "don't tell me where you're going. I can't know. If my mind is probed, if somehow I am caught and my mind probed, it would be better if I don't know where you are."

Violet shivered at his cold voice, the way he spoke of being captured, perhaps mentally tortured, with such casual tones, "if you don't know where I am, how will you come for me when this is all over?"

The warmth she was used to seeing in his large dark eyes returned, "my love, you're stuck with me, I will always come for you. I love you!" With that he gave her a kiss and then turned away as she gathered up her family and disappeared into the bowels of Torchwood.

Waiting until he could no longer feel her John turned around, and blew a kiss in the direction she had last stood, "be safe."

He looked away with a sad smile, and turned his attention to the cache of weapons he had laid out in front of him. Checking the clip first he slid the gun into the shoulder holster he was wearing. Then slipping on a military style jacket, he filled the various pockets with the other objects until the table was bare.

Knowing that the next place he would look for himself if he were The Master, he shuddered at that thought, would logically be Torchwood he left the compound quickly hoping the city would swallow him up and keep him from being detected.


	4. Chapter 4

The Master put a hand to his head with a cry that to Julie sounded like pain, "headache?" she asked not really sounding like she actually cared about his well being, more like she was just assessing him.

"The pain's a bit lower," he growled. He had felt The Doctor come back to consciousness it a white hot pinpoint in his mind before the other Time Lord shut him out. There was no way he could have turned that collar off; The Master gritted his teeth in frustration. Either the thing malfunctioned or he had help. Maybe the abomination had somehow found him? He was about to run back the TARDIS when he heard the grinding sound The Doctor always managed to get from his capsule when it de-materialised.

'Maybe,' The Master sneered at the rapidly disappearing blue box, 'right before I finally snap that thin neck of his I'll explain to the fool that if he just unlocks the osmosis clamps it wouldn't make that sound!'

But for now all he could do was watch the TARDIS disappear. He held no illusions that it meant that The Doctor was leaving him. Knowing that The Master was on the loose the thin Time Lord would not rest until he was back in his custody. The Master snorted at this thought, wondering how it had come to this, the two of them locked in eternal battle was one thing but The Doctor as his nanny? He had never imagined it would come to this.

Unfortunately the female had followed him, her eyes blazing as she saw the blue box leave, "great, now we're stranded on this god forsaken planet!" she growled.

"It's a temporary setback," The Master smiled winningly, "and the source is still out there, so it's not like you were planning on leaving before you go what you came for anyway. When the time comes I will get the time machine back, after all I always live up to my promises," at that he bit back a laugh. Lying came as easy to him as breathing and he did it so well.

Stealing a quick glance at the vampire he saw that she had bought everything he said. This was almost as fun as playing with The Doctor's head, almost.

Truth be told he was looking forward to his fellow Time Lord's attempts to stop him. It was with gleeful anticipation he awaited his next move. Getting the TARDIS out of his reach was like the opening move in a chess game. The obvious pawn being the ship. But that hardly signalled the end of it.

Would The Doctor confront him outright, using his morals as a weapon, attempting to brow beat The Master into submission?

Or would he first find the anathema first and then hiding him away...or wait, better yet use him as bait to try to trap or snare him?

A thrilling chill ran up his spine. It had been ages since he had felt so alive. His existence since becoming The Doctor's caged pet had been dull and unchallenging. He had been reduced to playing tame, allowed himself to appear toothless just to lull his fellow Time Lord into a false sense of hope.  
It had all been worth it, building up to this moment, this was going to be fun!

\------

After what felt like year two of listening to her mother go on about why John coming into their lives was a complete disaster Violet wondered if it would be a social faux pas to gaffer tape the woman's mouth shut. Not that she had any tape handy.

Even Pete who normally was passive in the face of the carrying on seemed to be tiring of the verbal assault, "Jax!" he held up his hand, "we're supposed to be hiding yeah? Don't you think it would be best to keep it down a bit?"

Violet smiled gratefully at her step father, who winked back over her mother's head. Pete may have won the battle but it was at great personal cost. Once her mother recovered from the shock of Pete's words she launched into her assessment of why he was such an unsupportive spouse.


	5. Chapter 5

Maybe it was the foolish optimism on his part or maybe he was just a fool in general but John figured the best way to draw out The Master was to hide himself in plain sight. If he didn't take any effort the Time Lord would rightfully suspect a trap. If he took too much effort, hid too well, then instead of finding John he'd shift his focus to finding Violet or her family in order to get at him.

Either way the ultimate goal would be to let The Master think he had captured him, and then using one of more of the gadgets, weapons and hopefully a lot of luck, turn the tables. The problem was he wasn't exactly sure why The Master was coming for him or why he chose this time to do so.

He felt the niggling sensation in the back of his head that meant someone was trying to reach out telepathically to find him. Not allowing that he set up his psychic defences to block the seeker out. Friend or foe, at this point it didn't matter. Even as he shut them out, he knew the mind trying to touch his was a Time Lord's. Which one, he couldn't say, but at this point it was best to keep all comers at mental arm's length. He was not ready to reveal his whereabouts just yet.

Touching the breast pocket of his fatigue jacket, he felt the hard lump of the vial contained therein. The presence of it was both reassuring and if he were honest, frightening. He had memories, most likely courtesy of The Doctor, of cyanide capsules that the German officers in WWII would carry, with orders to consume them upon capture. Cyanide wouldn't necessarily kill him, given his physiology, like a full blooded human. This vial contained something that would more than kill him, but more importantly it would also be fatal to a Time Lord. Specifically The Master. And due to its chemical compound it would be real death, no chance of regeneration.

Obviously this would be a last ditch option, he tapped the vial once more before checking his watch, trying to decide how much time had passed. He didn't relish killing The Master, or himself if it came to that, but if it meant Violet would be safe, there would be no hesitation in using it.

Picturing his wife's face in his mind's eye, he smiled fondly, imagining her hazel eyes dancing in the half light of their bedroom as dawn broke. In that moment, he accidentally let his shielding down, and the presence he had felt trying to scan him earlier rushed back.

Gritting his teeth he slammed the telepathic door in their face, almost fancying he could hear the lock clicking as he did so, "oh no you don't" he hissed before regaining control again.

\------

The Master's keen hearing could just barely pick up of the mumblings of the two male vampires, "why don't we just feed on him now?" one asked gesturing at him, "and find the source ourselves?"

"Yeah," the other agreed, "it's not like we are unable to hunt on our own!"

Julie cut them off with a wave of her hand, "maybe after we get what we want. But you must understand a full breed alien's blood would give you no life force, you cannot use it for more than a taste treat," she explained, "but the source is mixed with enough human to make it digestible."

The Master pretended not to hear this exchange; instead he pulled what appeared to be a thin torch from his pocket. As he switched the device on a low humming sound filled the area and he spun in a circle slowly holding it out in front of him.

"What is that?" Julie asked, as the high pitched noise emanating from it hurt her ears.

"Technically," the Time Lord explained, "it's called a laser screw driver. But it is more like a Time Lord version of a swiss army knife. It does just about everything."

Holding the laser screw driver up he whirled it around his head, "it slices, it dices, it juliennes!" seeing the blank expression on the vampire's face, his smile slipped, "in other words, it's a source finder."

"Then why hasn't it found him yet?" Julie snapped.

"Patience is a virtue," he shook a finger at her, "this has a limited range," he lied, "but it will find him, and you will get what you so richly deserve."

If the vampires had even the smallest inclining of the double meaning of The Master's words they showed no sign of it. Their trust in him was truly touching, he laughed inwardly, 'truly touching and completely idiotic.'


	6. Chapter 6

Having finished his erstwhile breakfast The Doctor did a quick check of the house, it was pretty obvious that Violet and the meta...John were not there but there could be clues or psychic footprints laying about or so he had hoped.

Unfortunately aside from a bath towel that had slipped to the floor, nothing seemed unusual or out of place. The overt neatness had the hallmarks of someone tidying up in a hurry, hastily covering their tracks. He knew that neither of the normal occupants would have taken the time to do this, so it was pretty obvious The Master's crew had been there.

Taking his screwdriver out of his pocket he checked back with the TARDIS' med bay, making sure that David was still improving. Then with a sigh he closed the front door of the house and went to search for someone. His wish list would be to find The Master first, and his merry band of vampires, but if he found John or Violet too, that would be a bonus.

\------

John felt like every nerve was in over drive. It wasn't exactly fear, just more like he was hyper aware as he walked through the crowded shopping district he fancied he could almost feel people's thoughts around him. Maybe he could, he mused, there was so much he didn't know about himself and perhaps this was a skill he possessed that he hadn't needed to use until now.

Fighting the urge to just paint himself red and hold a big sign to alert The Master to his presence he instead kept vigilant while going about his seemingly casual wanderings.

He rounded a corner and saw two larger men standing in the middle of the street, apparently scanning the crowd. Maybe, he soothed himself, their wives had wandered off and they were waiting for them? But then the breeze shifted a bit and he caught their scent. They smelt of death and the smell of aged flesh. No, these beings were not your run-of-the-mill humans.

Instinctively he knew they were somehow connected back to The Master and he ducked into doorway to collect his thoughts. He had pictured confronting the Time Lord, but hadn't really counted on encountering his thugs first. Peeking around the corner of the bricks at them again he attempted to assess the situation. One of them seemed to stare right at him, so he pulled back into the shelter of the doorway, but not before he saw the red eyes and the elongated teeth.

Running his hands through his hair in frustration he groaned softly, vampires? Searching his, or rather The Doctor's memories, he corrected himself, he tried to remember anything about how to immobilise or kill, if it came to that, a vampire.

The minute John thought of The Doctor he flashed on an image of the thin Time Lord standing in front of his house. Concentrating a moment he realised that he could feel him, The Doctor was here! He smiled in relief; all he needed to do was find The Doctor before The Master and his crew found him. With the two of them working together the vampires had no chance!

Speaking of, John's smile faded as he looked around the corner of the doorway again, where had the vampires gone? He stepped into the street and glanced around for the two he had seen earlier but now it seemed complete deserted. Not really looking where he was going he turned around taking a few steps forward and collided with someone. Hitting the ground with a thump he smacked his head on the hard concrete and was out like a light.

\------

Inside the TARDIS, David came around to the sound of his name being called. His eyes fluttered open and it took him a few minutes to figure out where he was. The urge to close his eyes and go back to sleep was very strong until he heard the voice calling him again.

Sitting up was a bit of a challenge given all the wires, leads and other things stuck to or stuck in, or in the case of the IV, into him. Carefully removing everything he slid off the med table and after a couple of tries stood up.

Still a bit wobbly on his feet he walked out of the med bay following the sound of the voice. His rational mind was yelling at him to stop, to stay where he was and not seek out the caller, but his legs seemed to be moving on their own accord.

'Like the lure of the sirens' he thought as he found himself just inside the TARDIS doors, fighting the urge to open them. Remembering what had happened back at the hotel, he knew that nothing good would come of this but still his hands reached for the door latch and started to turn the knob.

This time the TARDIS was fighting him on this. She refused to let him open her doors, trying to protect him from whatever was waiting for him on the other side. The handle wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he tried to force it.

The voice called David's name even more loudly. The need to go to it was so strong that the efforts of the time capsule to keep him inside were not appreciated. He pulled harder on the doors, his face going red with the effort, but she stood her ground.

The caller was not giving up either the sound echoed in the actor's head making it throb in time with his heart beat. Sliding to the floor, his back against the non-moving doors, David covered his ears with his hands and hoped the pain would stop soon.


	7. Chapter 7

John felt as if someone had smashed him over the head with a brick, which considering he had cracked his noggin on the side walk it was a pretty accurate feeling. He lay stunned on the pavement for a few seconds trying to recover from the impact.

When his eyes decided to focus again he looked up, expecting to see the two big vampires posed to attack. Much to his relief he gazed up at a familiar face smiling down at him. Large brown eyes held both concern and amusement, “you all right?”

“Good thing you aren’t a vampire,” John laughed taking the offered hand and hauling himself up. “for many reasons!”

“You’ve seen them?” The Doctor asked all hint of merriment leaving his face.

John looked around, “they were standing just over there before I ran into you, quite literally,” he rubbed the back of his head, wincing, “just before you appeared they disappeared. I was trying to figure out where they had gotten to.”

Before The Doctor could say anything, he continued, “I hate to sound paranoid but I almost thought they were looking for me for some reason, but it could be just a coincidence…” noting the expression on the Time Lord’s face he stopped, “you mean they are tracking me?”

“Yes, they are,” The Doctor’s voice was low and quiet, “I was hoping to find you before they did to warn you.”

“Wait, what’s this got to do with The Master?”

“He’s helping them, I’m not completely sure why but he’s leading them to you.”

John scratched his ear in confusion, “let’s start from the beginning. Why are they coming for me?”

“I promise I’ll explain it all but for right now you and I are pretty exposed, let’s go someplace a bit more private,” The Doctor gestured down the alley way, “come into my parlour said the spider to the fly.”

They had just gained the middle of the alley when they both became aware that they were being followed. John started to say something to The Doctor, but the Time Lord held up his hand signalling for him to stay quiet. It was all he could do to not turn around to see who it was, even though it was pretty obvious.

The Doctor pointed to a doorway with a tarnished metal door, held shut by a flimsy lock, and pulled the sonic screw driver from his coat pocket. Aiming the device at the hasp and fell to the ground, still neither man made a move to open the door. They both waited, counting silently in their heads until the stench of their pursuers hit their nostrils, then in a flash they disappeared inside the building.

The vampires were not that easily thrown off, however, even as The Doctor was trying to fuse the door’s handle shut with the sonic screwdriver it jumped and twisted in John’s hands, “no pressure,” the man spoke through gritted teeth as he tried to keep the door shut, “but do you think you could hurry that up a bit?”

“I’m trying!” The Doctor shot back, a grimace on his face, “this is an alloy! It takes just a bit longer!”

The handle twisted violently, wrenching itself out of John’s hands for a few heart stopping moments and the door opened a bit before he was able to get it shut again, throwing his whole body against it and regained his hold, “you ever think of replacing that with something useful?” he asked as the door slammed into his back a few more times.

Finally the lock fused and the door was still, “this works just fine,” The Doctor frowned at him, “but like all good things sometimes you have to wait for it.”

“If they had gotten in here and ripped us to shreds I bet you’d wish you had something a bit more modern!” John snapped. Then taking a deep breath he looked around their hiding place. It appeared to be a cold storage room, or pantry. The shelves lined with bottles and jars. Plucking a tin of sardines off of a shelf he held it out, “at least we won’t starve to death.”

“We’re not staying here,” The Doctor informed him.

“Obviously not,” John shook his head putting the tin back, “now, you were going to tell me a tale of vampires…”

\------

The two vampires were circling the door, undecided. Their every instinct was to get at the source while he was close, but the addition of the other man, the one who looked the same but smelt completely different changed the dynamic.

There was something about this other man that set their teeth on edge. He was somehow dangerous, he gave off an energy that let them know he was not to be messed with, and they were unsure how to proceed. After a bit of a discussion they decided to find their mistress and let her know what they had found.

It was not without a good measure of relief that they headed off to find her, she’d know what to do!


	8. Chapter 8

It didn't take long for The Master to both lose the vampires and find the TARDIS. The ship was hidden from most eyes but his were keener than most. He toyed with the idea of hiding inside but then thinking of all the monitoring equipment she had built in, and how long it would take to disable it, he decided to just take a spot in a good vantage point and wait for The Doctor to return.

Settling down on a balcony of an obviously empty flat The Master pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket and munched happily on it while he waited.

\------

John took in The Doctor’s tale with wide eyes but no comment. He had winced at the part where the Time Lord had said they had gone for David first and apparently again, but had remained silent. To the casual observer it would appear he was either in a catatonic state or really didn’t care one way or another.

But because he was part of The Doctor, the Time Lord knew he was deep in thought. He, himself, often went rigid with indecision, weighing options until he was locked in his own mind so tightly that it took someone else to let him out.

“Do you think if I gave myself to them,” John finally spoke, his voice calm and quiet, “that they’d leave David alone?”

The Doctor shook his head sadly, that’s exactly what he would have suggested too, had he been in the other man’s shoes, “no, unfortunately they’d want more. They would most likely keep both of you as mobile blood banks.”

Looking down at his hands, which were, to his surprise, clenched in fists John’s voice dropped to almost inaudible levels, “please tell me you have a plan?” he pleaded.

“Well, kind of,” The Doctor admitted, “finding you was part of it.”

John looked up, “and the rest?”

“Figured you and I could work on that together,” the Time Lord waved in the general direction of John’s chest, “what all do you have in those pockets? You seem armed for bear!”

Knowing The Doctor’s aversion to weapons, John knew what this was leading to, “and you’re not.”

“Never, I prefer to use my wits instead of brute force,” The Doctor smiled, “that’s a major difference between the two of us.”

So many comments came leaping to mind, words poised on his tongue that were carefully chosen to wound the Time Lord, but John restrained himself. This argument was not winnable and had been gone over so many times it was like they were reciting lines in a play.

“I have only one life, and a family,” John replied, “and I will do whatever it takes to defend and protect us.”

The Doctor could see that an effort had been made to hold back, he could feel the tension and anger like a heat wave in his mind. Maybe the meta... ‘Must call him John!' he repeated in his head, like a mantra. Maybe John is growing as a person, becoming his own man, after all.

Cutting him some slack The Doctor leaned in, “show me what you’ve got?” he grinned, looking for all the world like a boy at Christmas.

As John emptied his pockets The Doctor found his smile harder and harder to maintain. Guns, OK he didn’t like them, but they were common place. The more sophisticated weapons obviously obtained from this Earth’s version of Torchwood made him uneasy, especially the ones he had had some personal encounters with made him flinch as if the experiences were being repeated.

When it looked like the seemingly never ending cache was finally winding down, John paused with his hand over his breast pocket. He could see the disapproving look on The Doctor’s face, see the almost pain in his eyes as he gazed at the arsenal in front of him. Letting his hand lower to his lap in a casual manner, or so he hoped, he decided to save that little bombshell for later. Gathering up the various objects he put them away and waited a heart beat before asking, “what’s our next move?”

Shaking himself like he was coming out of a dream, or more accurately a nightmare, The Doctor reinstated his smile, “here’s what I was thinking…” he leaned forward.


	9. Chapter 9

The Master had gone through the first chocolate bar and another and finished a cigar and still no sign of The Doctor. He was beginning to wonder if he had missed something and his fellow Time Lord was already inside.

He tried to touch The Doctor’s mind but flashed on an image of a small boy sticking his tongue out instead. ‘Cute’ he mumbled, aware that this meant he was being blocked, it only added to his determination to get into the Time Capsule and see what he could find.

Rising with a grunt he left his balcony perch and made his way down to the TARDIS. He had a key, of course and yet, the lock wouldn't budge. He took the key out and examined it closely, it looked fine, he mused before fitting it into the lock once more. This time applying more pressure as he tried to use brute force to get the key to move. This only resulted in the blade breaking off in the lock leaving him with just the stump in his hand.

He stared at the broken key in stunned silence for a moment, before throwing it to the ground and repeatedly kicking the blue box until his foot throbbed in time with his hearts beat as he screamed obscenities at the top of his voice.

Then calming himself he picked up the round bit of metal from the pavement, carefully fished the broken bit out the lock and sat down on a nearby wall. Fishing out his laser screwdriver he laid the two pieces down on the brick and set about repairing the key.

\------

The Master's pounding on the outside of the TARDIS only added to the almost ear shattering level of noise inside David's head. He had slumped against the door, half leaning half lying against it when it was obvious that the time capsule was not going to let him out.

But the shaking of the door and the possibility that someone was going to get in and maybe let him out had roused him from his half conscious state. It felt like there was something scratching at the back of his head; he kept raising a hand to check for blood because it seemed so real.

As he lowered his hands he realised they were shaking, it was almost like he was cold but he felt so hot that he almost expected to see flames shooting from his fingers. Shoving his hands in his pockets he moved until his back was against the door. The cool of the wood helping to stabilise his body temperature. Now if he could only get whatever it was that seemed to be boring into his skull to stop, he'd feel a whole lot better.

His mouth felt dry, so he licked his lips. As he did so he was surprised to have something cut a slight gash in the tip of his tongue. He put a hand up to his lips and felt and tasted blood. How had he managed to do that? He wondered.

His musings were cut short as another assault on the door was launched. The wooden frame shook and groaned as whoever it was tried to get in.

Coming to his senses at last, as if the fog was lifting, it occurred to David that he probably didn't want to be right against the doors when whatever or whoever was trying to break them down finally succeeded.

Struggling to his feet he wished he wasn't all alone in the TARDIS he was at the mercy of the Time Capsule's good will and if she were broached, he wouldn't be unable to defend himself. He could barely stand without feeling dizzy, let alone fight off intruders.

Hopefully The Doctor would return soon, David buoyed himself with that thought and made his way slowly up the ramp to his bedroom, suddenly very, very tired.

\------

The Master wasn't tired. What he was, he ground his teeth together as the lock continued to thwart him, was about to scrounge up some plastique, coat the infernal box with it and blow the whole thing to the heavens. He pictured the explosion with a smile, the shards flying everywhere and then the big sad eyes of The Doctor when he found his beloved piece of junk in pieces around him.

Trying to recall if anyone had ever successfully blown up a TARDIS, he tapped his finger thoughtfully on his lip. He'd have to do some research into that. But only after he had the corpse of the half breed and a living dead mongrel under his belt and was off this Rassilon forsaken planet.

Deciding that it may be best to return to his original plan of watching and waiting, he retreated. It was beneath him to allow himself to be thwarted by a stupid machine.


	10. Chapter 10

John waited a couple of minutes before peeking out of the small window set high in the storage room's door, "I think they've gone," he announced, glancing back at The Doctor. The Time Lord had his glasses on and was reading the label of a random tin he had plucked off the shelf with a frown.

Shaking his head he wondered for what seemed like the millionth time how someone with a mind so vast could have the attention span of a gnat. Luckily in his weird mix of biology he was gifted with a bit longer one himself.

"What did you find?" he asked trying to see what it was that had The Doctor so intrigued.

The Time Lord held the tin up, "potted meat product!" he tapped an item on the ingredients list, "what is Rassilon's name is 'mechanically recovered' mean?"

"You don't want to know," John took the tin from him and set it on a shelf. "Now back to more important things, I looked out the window just now and I can't see the vampires. I'm not sure why but the coast appears to be clear."

"Why would they just leave?" The Doctor asked, taking off his glasses and rising to his feet.

"Maybe they were called off?" John replied, "you said they were with a female who appeared to be their leader and she and The Master are working together...." He stopped, eyes wide, "wait, didn't you say you left David in the TARDIS?"

The Doctor nodded, "The Master can't get in though, I've locked it down against him," he spoke reassuringly.

"Great, but did you also make sure David couldn't get out?" John asked but by the look on the Time Lord's face the answer was painfully obvious. He wanted to grab The Doctor by the skinny lapels on his ever present suit and shake him until his teeth rattled, but he held back, "if they somehow managed to lure him out of there..." he swallowed the last of that thought.

"We have to get to the TARDIS," The Doctor spun around the room, feet fairly itching to get moving, "I hope you're wrong!"

"I hope so too," John replied then he tried to turn the handle on the door, it wouldn't budge. He groaned as he remembered how they had to fuse the lock, "and I hope there's another way out of here!"

\------

The two male vampires found their leader in a pub. She had unbuttoned a few buttons on her blouse and was pretending to flirt with a rather inebriated young man. They barged in and scared him off; "Mistress, we found the source!" they spoke in unison as soon as her intended prey had staggered off.

"I was this close," Julie growled, holding her fingers just barely apart, "to getting a snack, this had better end with 'and we have him trussed up in the alley for you'!"

They shot each other confused glances, then one of them stepped forward, "no, they got away."

"They?" she asked.

"The source was with The Master's prisoner, but he was somehow freed," the other one offered.

Julie held up her hand motioning for them to be silent, "I am beginning to doubt The Master's intentions," she tapped the nails of her other hand on the polished wooden bar, "perhaps we should take him prisoner ourselves, make him get the source and then force this other Time Lord to take us home."

The two males shot glances over her head, clearly wondering if she could pull it off, but wisely remained silent.

\------

As much as she loved her family, Violet was itching to do something constructive. She knew John was out there, possibly in mortal danger and here she was in an underground bunker just waiting.

Not sure if it was her mother's constant stream of complaining, Pete's immobility once he found the extensive DVD library and big screen TV or just knowing that John was on his own, but her nerves were shot. She twirled her wedding ring on her finger. In the little time she had been with her husband it was hard to imagine her life without him.

The first days, or to be honest, months were difficult. He was born fully grown, with no real identity of his own and was shell shocked, lost and confused. Once he figured out that was here to stay, and that she was in it for the long haul, he grew into the man she loved with all her heart.

And now she risked losing him.

Decision made she let herself into the weapons storage room and began to arm herself. She knew John would not approve of her coming after him, but they were a team and it was time he realised it!

Violet looked up to see Pete watching her through the open doorway. His sad smile let her know he knew exactly what was going on in her mind. He put a finger to his lips and the other hand gestured at Violet's mum, still belly aching but back turned. Nodding in agreement, Violet finished her preparations and slipped out the back door.


	11. Chapter 11

Stepping out of the dim light of the bunker, blinking in the bright sunlight Violet checked something on her wrist pushing a few buttons before heading off. She had set the bio tracker to John's biology when he was asleep a few months back, knowing he would have objected while he was awake so she thought it was best to just not tell him she had done it.

The problem was the thing seemed to be going bonkers, she watched in wide eyed amazement as the thing recorded no less than a hundred Johns in the area. Then she scowled at the device. The boffins at Torchwood had assured her that they had worked out all the bugs yet this stupid thing was recording an army of men with John's genetic makeup.

'Hardly likely!' she snorted, pushing a few more buttons to at least get the thing to stop beeping like it was possessed.

Heading towards her home, she figured she would start looking for John there and then work her way outwards. In the meanwhile, she punched a few more buttons on her bio tracker, trying to get it to do something other than irritate her to the point of bursting as she made her way along.

She was so deep in concentration that she almost walked face first into a big blue box. Violet stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the sight. Almost unwilling to believe her eyes she reached a shaky hand out and touched the exterior. Rough wood, with just a hint of some sort of exotic paint. Yes, it really was the TARDIS, but what was it doing here?

Pulling the chain around her neck, she retrieved the key and let herself in. The ship appeared to be deserted; "hello?" she called out. As she stepped up the ramp the lighting in the console room went from its normal soft orange hue to almost a blood red. Violet looked around wondering if she had somehow tripped a sensor or something when a loud buzzing filled the room.

Quickly covering her ears Violet wondered what had triggered this behaviour, "what is it girl?" she asked, "what's going on?"

\------  
The Doctor had been walking at his normal brisk pace, John keeping up with him, even though he had adapted his own stride to fit Violet's shorter legs of late. The Time Lord had been chattering along about his recent encounters with vampires, when suddenly he clutched his head and cried out in pain.

"Are you all right?" John asked just as a stabbing pain hit him too, "what the hell is that?" he spat out through gritted teeth. The sensation was as if someone had a small pick axe and was repeatedly slamming it against his skull, in time with his heart beat.

Looking over at The Doctor through eyes that were blurry with uncontrollable tears in reaction to the throbbing pain in his head, he saw that he was almost doubled over, his breath coming in harsh panting sounds. John guessed that whatever was causing this, the end result would be twice as bad for him than it was for someone who was only half a Time Lord.

Struggling to move as it felt like the pick axe was now being applied to his spine and chest he tried to right himself, not giving in to the urge to curl up in the foetal position until whatever it was stopped or he mercifully passed out, "speak to me!" he demanded.

The Doctor, still bent over holding his head in his hands gasped, "we have to get back to the TARDIS now!" he straightened up with great effort, his eyes still watering, "she's in trouble!" is all he said before taking off in a dead run.

"She? She who?" John called out but the Time Lord was gone.

John stared after him wondering how in the hell he could walk let alone run at this point but determined to not let The Doctor out of his sight he broke into a fast trot following the rapidly disappearing figure.

\------

The Master wished he had rationed out the chocolate bars a bit better. The scene below was just now getting interesting. First the silly human female, bright blue hair this time around, let herself into the TARDIS. 'Obviously her key worked,' he growled but his expression quickly turned back into a smile as Violet neglected to shut the doors. Then off in the distance he could see The Doctor approaching at a breakneck pace, followed closely by the abomination.

Fishing in his pockets he found half a bag of jelly babies, and pulled them out. Not quite sure how long they had been there; he peered into the bag and pulled out a pink one, sniffed it suspiciously but then popped it in his mouth.

'After all,' he rationalised, 'how can you tell if one goes stale?'

Now all he needed was the vampires to put in an appearance and the games would begin. He selected a red one out of the bag and bit its head off. As he did so he pictured one of the blood suckers biting the head off of the 'source' and laughed so hard he almost needed respiratory bypass.


	12. Chapter 12

Violet was about to turn around and head back out, the noise was getting louder and the lights began to flash like a demented disco ball. Just as she gained the door she heard footsteps coming from one of the upper levels.

"Hello?" she called up, "who's there?"

"No reply. The footsteps grew closer, so she tried again, "hello?" she craned her neck and finally caught sight of someone approaching. From the clothing she could tell more who it wasn’t more easily than who it was. The man approaching was dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt, so that ruled out both The Master and The Doctor. By the reddish brown hue of his hair she momentarily thought it was John.

But then she realised who it was, David! She smiled and started to run up to meet him, but when she got within a metre she stopped dead in her tracks. He looked massively unwell, his normally pale skin was almost ashen and he walked like he barely had the energy to stand let alone propel himself along. He was using the wall to keep upright and his eyes were only half open.

Violet came up to him, "you're ill," she sighed taking his arm, "what are you doing out of bed?"

"I thought I heard someone," he replied, his speech sounding slurred.

"I'm sorry I woke you," she turned him around and started walking him back to his room. It was then she noticed he was soaking wet, like he had sweated through his clothing, his shirt was sticking to his chest but yet he felt cool to the touch, almost too cool.

"You need to get out of those wet things," she spoke to him in calm soothing tones, afraid that at any minute he was going to drop to the floor. Examining him a bit more closely she saw a thin trickle of dried blood on his face, "what happened here?" she wet her finger and wiped the spot off his chin.

"I don't know," he shrugged listlessly; "I cut my tongue."

"On what?" Violet asked, but before he could answer they were at the doorway of his room. The door was opened wide and the bed a mess. The sheets were tangled and the duvet pushed off to one side. Setting David down on the edge of the bed she looked for clean and dry clothing for him, with the idea of getting him comfortable and tucked in where he clearly belonged.

Pulling open the closet she caught her hand on a sharp edge and yelped as a thin strip of flesh was scraped off. Examining the wound quickly she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and pressed it against her palm to stem the bleeding. Then finding nothing suitable in the closet she turned her attention to the chest of drawers.

When she turned back around David was gone. He had barely been able to walk earlier, but now in the short time it had taken her to open a few dresser drawers and find a clean shirt and pyjama bottoms he had disappeared.

Violet stood for a moment looking around the room, still holding the clothing, "David?" she called out, "where are you?"

\------

John finally caught up with The Doctor, and not because the Time Lord took pity on him and slowed down, he groused as he tried to get his breath back. The Doctor was standing still only a few metres from the TARDIS. 'Too still,' John amended his thought.

Something was twinkling just above his collar, a series of red lights winked on and off...a stasis collar! Just like the one that The Doctor had made The Master wear before. Probably the exact same one. That means....

John looked up and saw The Master standing on a balcony of one of the block of flats across the street. A crumpled white bag that looked like it held some sort of sweets, in one hand and the laser screwdriver in the other, smiling down at him widely.

Distracted by the sight John didn't notice the two large men approaching him until it was too late. His arms were pinned to his sides roughly making him wince but he refused to cry out even when one of them twisted his arm so sharply something popped in his wrist. John tested the strength of the two holding him and received a partially dislocated shoulder for his efforts.

"Welcome to my little party!" The Master laughed, "now don't wander off," he waved, "I'll be right down!"

Unable to do anything but wait John watched with a forced calmness as The Master took his sweet time approaching.

"Nice of him to bring it with him, don't you think?" the Time Lord laughed, flicking the stasis collar around The Doctor's neck, "I think it suits him, don't you?"

John chose not to answer instead meet his gaze coolly.

"You are a brave little, whatever you are," The Master continued, "but we have your woman, your mongrel offspring and The Doctor hostage, so you are all on your own."

"What do you want?" John hissed his eyes never leaving The Master's face.

"I want another jelly baby," The Master smiled, holding out the bag, "want one? No? OK well more for me then," he rooted around the bag and selected a green one, "time was The Doctor was addicted to these things, he got me hooked on them too."

Chewing thoughtfully The Master seemed to forget John was even there. He seemed to rouse out of his sugar coma when a tall woman approached. Her red eyes fixed on John as she licked her lips.

"Oh, and..." The Master finally spoke up, "I want you to be a good little boy and die."


	13. Chapter 13

Violet set the clean clothing on the bed stand and stepped into the hallway, it didn't take her long to find where David had gotten to. He was slumped against the opposite wall facing away from her, his head on his knees.

"You should be in bed!"

She reached for him but he jerked out of her arms, "leave me alone!" he hissed.

"David?" she knelt down next to him, "I want to help, you're unwell..."

He scooted further away still not looking at her, "you need to get away from me," he sounded less hostile this time, "please!" he pleaded with her.

"I am not going to leave you!" Violet insisted, "I can't believe The Doctor left you alone you're obviously..."

The words caught in her throat as David finally looked up, his eyes meeting hers. Instead of the familiar brown they were bright red, "go away!" he snarled, the edges of his lips curled around sharp fangs.

She leapt to her feet stumbling backwards her eyes never leaving him, "oh my god!" she gasped and turned to run. Not looking where she was going, not that she could have seen clearly around the tears welling up in her eyes, she ran full force into someone and sat down with a grunt.

The Master smiled down at her, "did that bruise your little tushie?" he asked in a mock sympathetic voice.

"What have you done to David?" she almost sobbed.

"I didn't do that," the Time Lord shrugged, then tapped his pearly white teeth with his finger, "see? No fangs."

"You can't honestly expect me to believe you had nothing to do with it," Violet barked.

"Now I didn't say that, but in answer to your question, he's been nipped," The Master made the universal hand gesture for biting, "and got a bit of the old red stuff back from a vampire. But don't worry he's not fully one, yet. However, he's been picking up some nasty side effects it would seem."

"But enough about him, you're in for a treat," the Time Lord smiled yanking her off the floor with one hand, "I have a family reunion going on and you're the missing link," he gripped her arm firmly.

Violet planted her feet, refusing to go willingly. The Master stopped too, "if you don't want to see your dearest husband one last time before he dies that's up to you, I could just as easily throw you in the brig if you'd rather."

"You have John?" Violet's heart seemed to stop in her chest as she asked that.

"How original! John, as in John Smith I'm guessing. You could have at least named your pet something more interesting," The Master sneered. Then he plastered a smile on his face, "yes we have 'John' and The Doctor, although he won't be much for conversation. Just as well really, he does tend to prattle on."

"Where are they?" Violet asked.

"In the med bay of course," the Time Lord rolled his eyes, "it's the easiest room to hose blood and guts from and there will be lots, believe me. Although I suspect not a lot of blood will go to waste, they seem to be pretty efficient in that regard."

As if speaking of the vampires reminded him of something The Master stopped, and turned around, 'now where did the mongrel get to?' he pondered.

\------

John had been hauled into the TARDIS by the two goons and the female vampire and then unceremoniously dumped into a small examination room, stripped of his weapons and locked inside. He had held his breath at one of the males reached into his breast pocket, pulling out the vial. The vampire opened the top, took a sniff and held it up.

"We had this lovely holiday in Deildartunguhver the hot springs there are amazing, you know Iceland?" John lied quickly, "and that's where I proposed to my wife, I keep the water as a memento of that event, close to my heart."

The vampire recapped the vial handing it back with a rude suggestion as to what John could do with it. Placing it back in his pocket John waited until the door clicked shut to search the room for anything that could be uses as either a way to get out of this place or better yet a weapon.


	14. Chapter 14

John was ankle deep in the debris of yet another cupboard having found nothing but cotton wool and tongue depressors and lots of latex gloves. He wondered how long it had been since this room had been used based on the condition of some of the boxes.

The door opened and Violet was shoved inside, she looked around the room, "well I'm not cleaning this up," she laughed as she ran to hug him.

As he embraced his wife with his long arms he felt her shake, his chest started to get wet and he realised she was crying, "hey," he rocked her gently, "it's not that bad, if it bothers you that much I'll clean it up."

Filling a cup with water John handed it to Violet as she started to get herself back under control, "talk to me," John pleaded gazing into her tear stained face.

She wiped her hand across her face, “vampires!” she spat out.

John nodded, “yeah I’ve met some of them. I’m pretty disappointed though, not a black cape or bad Transylvanian accent in the bunch! And absolutely none of them said ‘I vant to drink your blood’, sad really!”

Violet couldn’t help but laugh at that, “this is serious,” she chided smacking her husband playfully on the arm, “they’ve done something to David.”

She heard the mirth go out of John’s voice, “The Doctor had said he was ill…”

“He had fangs!” Violet countered, “I think that goes beyond ‘ill’!” Glancing up at her too-quiet spouse she wished he would just let the rage out just this once. Instead he appeared to be calm at this news, to anyone else but her that is. His hands were clenched in fists at his sides and sparks seemed to fire behind his dark eyes.

“They kept talking about finding ‘the source’ do you have any idea what that means?” Violet continued.

John nodded, “yes I’m ‘the source’,” he announced casually, “The Master has them convinced that if they drink my blood they will gain power and rule the world.”

Violet stared at him open mouthed, “they’re going to kill you?”

“Would appear to be their plan,” John agreed, “but if I have anything to say about it, and I think I do, it won’t happen. I’ve got better things to do today than dying. I still need to fix that squeaky hinge in the attic and…”

“Will you shut up?” Violet snapped, “this is serious!”

John made a show of pretending to zip his lip and folded his arms across his chest, a hint of a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth.

“What are we going to do? We have to get out of here but how?” she asked pointing at the locked door. When that got no answer she looked back at her husband, “why aren’t you answering me?”

Then it dawned on her, “OK you can ‘un-shut up’ now!”

“Good,” John sighed dramatically after making a show of unzipping his lips, “the metal was beginning to chafe.”

“How can you make jokes at a time like this?”

“You worry too much,” he smiled at her, “we’ll think of something, we always do.”

\------

Once the abomination and his mate were secured and the still frozen Doctor was carried into the med bay The Master went off in search of the mongrel. In his half converted state he couldn’t have gone too far.

But still he couldn’t pick up on David anywhere. He knew the TARDIS was most likely protecting him from detection and he couldn’t rule out the innate cunning the actor may possess but he was not in the mood to play hide and seek.

“If you come out now I will see if I can help you,” he yelled, “if you don’t I’ll have them save you for last and make you watch your ‘family’ get destroyed.”

He was not terribly surprised that his generous offer was met with silence, and in some ways it was a bit more interesting that it wasn’t accepted. But still his patience was wearing thin, “I will find you, and the longer it takes the less mercy I will grant you.”

Straining to hear even the faintest sound The Master could only pick up the hum of the TARDIS’ engines and wondered if the mongrel had dropped dead somewhere and only when his corpse began to rot would they find him.

That thought cheered him up considerably, “if you aren’t dead yet!” he called out, “when I find you, you will wish you were!” with that he went to rejoin the others in the med bay.


	15. Chapter 15

Now that they were so close to getting what they wanted the vampires circled the med bay like vultures. The female, Julie, was almost shivering with anticipation. She kept licking her lips like she had just eaten the most wonderful of sweets and was savouring the taste. The two males were pacing but were giving off vibes of discontent.

Finally unable to ignore her minions any longer Julie glared at them, “what is it now?” she sighed.

“We want to know,” the bolder of the two spoke up, “who gets the first taste?”

"“I do of course,” she waved them off dismissively as if this should be perfectly obvious.

“Why is that?” the other one snapped back.

“I’m the one who organised this, brought The Master to our side and if it wasn’t for me you’d be back on Earth hunting mere humans!”

“He volunteered his services,” the first one countered, “you merely took him up on the offer. We’ve been doing all the work so we deserve the first bites!”

“You have done nothing!” she snarled back.

“We captured the source!” the two howled in protest, “he is here because of us!”

Julie held up her hands placatingly, finally seeming to be aware that two against one odds were not in her favour, “how about we let The Master decide? That way it’ll be fair, he has no interest in feeding.”

They nodded in agreement, and went back to pacing the room. Each hoping to be the first, and hopefully the only one to drink from the source.

\------

The Master was still searching for David, he wanted everyone together to witness the end of the mixed bloods and the actor was the only one unaccounted for. The problem was that if he didn’t wish to be found and the TARDIS was helping him, finding him would be not impossible, just very difficult.

Then it struck him, use the ridiculous female, his biological mother, as collateral. Threaten to kill her and that would flush him out. These humans, he shook his head, these mostly humans were such a sentimental bunch.

Heading back down to the med bay he heard the raised voices of the arguing vampires. He stopped just outside the door to listen. Biting back a giggle as he heard the female appoint him as an unbiased judge, if she only knew, he smiled. Still, good to know the morons still thought of him as a friend.

Plastering a smile on his face he took a deep breath before stepping into the room.

\------

Violet watched as John finished searching the cupboards, he had amassed a pretty impressive collection of cotton wool puffs and tongue depressors along with the largest ball of rubber bands she had ever seen, “anything useful?” she asked looking at the mess on the floor.

“We could build a snowman,” John gestured at the cotton wool, “or play some hand ball with this,” he held up the rubber bands, “but as far as something to use for a weapon we could sharpen some of these tongue depressors and give them some nasty splinters.”

“What about fashioning a wooden stake out of those?”

“That doesn’t actually work,” John soothed, “you’d just piss them off.”  
Seeing all hope go out of his wife’s expression John stood up and took her into his arms, “come on, it’s not that bad,” he held her tightly.

As she let herself melt into his embrace her cheek hit something hard in his breast pocket, “what’s this?” she pulled back tapping the object.

John had momentarily forgotten about the vial, “it’s just a bit of water in case I got thirsty,” he lied wincing inwardly at how false that sounded even to him.

Violet gazed up into his eyes, as if she was trying to see the truth in his statement, for a heart stopping moment he thought she was going to fish in out of his pocket and see for herself, but then she smiled, “I don’t supposed you have anything to eat as well? I’m starving!”


	16. Chapter 16

As the time dragged on Violet curled up on the examination table and fell asleep. John smiled at her ability to sleep soundly anywhere, at any time, perhaps a bit envious if he were honest. He touched the vial to reassure himself it was still there and leaned against the wall surveying the room once more.

The stuff he had scattered about the small room had yielded very little that was useful but he had a few ideas on how to make what he had found work in his favour.

Not wanting to wake Violet he decided to wait a bit before putting his plan into action. But he could prepare for the moment, in case the luxury of time was taken away from him. He dropped to his knees and made a pile of the cotton wool puffs and cardboard boxes, looking up occasionally to be sure his wife was still asleep.

Once the mound was about to his head John stood up and started to disassemble the electrical outlet plate set low on one wall. He reached into the outlet, ignoring the shocks that hit his fingers as he worked. He pulled two wires out of the box and left them dangling, hovering just over the stacked items.

Now, all he had to do was get a spark going and the whole thing would combust into a dramatic smoking fire.

Or so he hoped.

\------

The Doctor came around with a start; he remembered being set upon by the two male vampires, the snap of the cold metal being placed around his neck and then the blackness. What was puzzling, though, was why he was now in a storage closet and the stasis collar was nowhere to be found.

He fully expected to have The Master standing in front of him, gloating or bragging or whatever form his giant ego would manifest itself in this time. But he was all alone. Just on the edges of his mind he felt someone nearby but he couldn’t see anyone, so whoever it was had made the effort to stay hidden.

After doing a quick body check, The Doctor slowly, quietly opened the door and peeked out. The storage closet was obviously in a pretty abandoned part of the TARDIS, he could hear the engines humming above him, so he most likely was in one of the lowest levels.

But how had he gotten there?

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts he sat on a wooden crate that had been pushed against one wall. His nerves were on edge, even though it would appear to anyone watching him that he was completely at ease.

The Doctor could tell whoever he had felt earlier was still nearby. It was clearly not The Master, so taking a risk he called out, “you can come out, I promise not to harm you.” He waited for a reply, looking around the room, “I suppose I have you to thank for getting me here and releasing me?”

Still nothing.

“I don’t know why you’re afraid to reveal yourself, but I can help you, if you let me!” he continued. He flashed on strong feelings of fear and anger before whoever it was got themselves back under control.

Just as he was cut off The Doctor saw movement out of the corner of his eye. A figure, staying in the dark, using the shadows to keep hidden made for the door. The Time Lord was instantly on his feet in pursuit, but he was not quick enough, by the time he gained the corridor the presence had disappeared.

\------

“He was just here!” the taller of the two male vampires insisted.

“Unless one of you oafs turned off the stasis collar in your fumbling about, there’s no way he could have just wandered off!” The Master shot back, fighting the urge to scream in frustration.

The other male looked around the med bay as if he expected The Doctor was just misplaced, “did you check the examination rooms?”

“Explain to me, you simple minded waste of space, how someone completely frozen, unable to move and pretty much a statue could have gotten into one of the rooms unless he was placed there?” The Master gestured at the bank of doors, “I know I didn’t move him, you claim you didn’t, I doubt she,” he pointed at Julie, “could even lift him, so where did he go?”

“The source and his female are still safely locked up,” Julie offered, “so it wasn’t them.”

The Master gritted his teeth, attempting to stay calm, “then who does that leave?” No sooner had the words left his lips it dawned on him who was behind this….the mongrel. Somehow, even in his half converted weakened state he was causing problems. His eyes narrowed, ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy,’ he growled to himself.

Then in a louder tone he addressed the vampires, “there’s only one person it could be, and he’s still out there! You need to find that skinny Scottish bastard before he does any further damage!”

Allowing himself the imagery of the vampires tearing the mongrel to shreds, hopefully with The Doctor nearby, helpless to stop them, he added with a smile, “once you bring him to me, you may have him for starters before the feast!”


	17. Chapter 17

John pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what was going on in the main area of the med bay, luckily the vampires made no effort to stay quiet and were standing pretty much right outside discussing hunting David down and bringing him to The Master. His eyes narrowed at that, ‘over my dead body’ he thought, then with a wry grin realised it may actually come to that.

Then they went quiet, he heard the door open and the sound of footsteps. Closing his eyes he reached out and found that there was still one being in the med bay and luckily it wasn’t The Master. Time to get started!

He turned back to check on Violet, his grin fading as he watched her sleep. He knew that if things went as he had planned that she would be left alone again. He hoped she would forgive him, eventually, and would find someone else after he was gone. She didn’t do well on her own.

Kissing her tenderly on the cheek John gave her a gentle shake, “Violet, you need to wake up now,” he whispered in her ear.

She batted vaguely at him, missing, “give me five more minutes,” she grumbled, obviously thinking she was still at home in bed.

“Come on,” John grunted as he pulled her to an upright position, “we have some chaos to cause and I need you awake.”

At the word ‘chaos’ Violet’s eyes popped open, she gaped at John then saw over his shoulder the pile of combustibles and the exposed electrical outlet, “what the hell..?”

John shook his head, “it’ll take too long to explain, but when that door opens you need to run, don’t wait for me, don’t look back, just run and hide!” with that he pulled her into a very passionate kiss, then broke the embrace.

Violet’s mouth opened like she wanted to say more but he had turned away from her and taken the exposed wires in his long fingers and sparking them together just over the pile of paper and cotton wool.

Soon a thick smoke was filling the room, and the fire alarms went off. One of the male vampires opened the door to the examination room.

John heard the door open with a wide grin, “here we go,” he called to Violet, “run!”

The male vampire saw Violet run out and was about to go after her when the source stepped from the room casually and pressed something into his hand. It appeared to be made of multi-coloured rubber and had alarming looking spikes sticking out of it, “don’t move,” came the advice, “that’s a bomb and it’s set to go off.”

The vampire eyed the object, “all I have to do is stand still?” he almost whispered.

“That’s it,” John assured him gravely, then patted the oh-so-still vampire on the shoulder, “have fun!” Then he smiled winningly and took off after Violet.

The Master heard the commotion and ran towards the med bay at break neck speed, he got there just in time to see smoke still pouring out of the examination room and the shorter of the male vampires standing statue still staring at a ball of rubber bands in his hand with bits of broke tongue depressors sticking out of it.

“What is Rassilon’s name are you doing?” the Time Lord spat out.

“It’s a bomb!” the vampire replied in a shaky voice.

The Master stared at him incredulously, “who told you that?” then he stopped, cutting the other man off like he didn’t even want to know, “it’s not a bomb you moron,” he snapped grabbing the ball and throwing it across the room, “he lied to you!”

The vampire sighed, “why would he do that?”

The Time Lord just shook his head and turned to the other vampires as they came into the room, “this genius,” he snarled, “let the source and his woman escape. They can’t have gotten far, find them!”

\------

John didn’t find Violet but that was OK, if he couldn’t maybe The Master and his ghastly ghouls wouldn’t either. Once he figured he was safely out of harm, for now, he settled into a casual walk until he felt the presence of someone nearby. Rounding the corner he almost ran into The Doctor.

“Where have you been?” the Time Lord demanded.

“Nice to see you again too,” John smiled.

“We have a problem,” both men spoke at once.

The Doctor scowled as John laughed at this, “it’s not funny!”

“No, it’s not,” John agreed, his face suddenly serious, “so what are we going to do about it?”


	18. Chapter 18

The minute the door opened Violet had taken off at a dead run, as John had instructed. It wasn’t until she was deep within the winding corridors of the TARDIS and had pretty much run out of breath that she finally stopped.

She listened intently hoping to hear John’s footsteps behind her but she had guessed removing himself from harm hadn’t been on his agenda. Not that she was going to let anything bad happen to him, but for now she needed to get her breath back and organise her thoughts.

David was becoming a vampire, The Doctor was in stasis, The Master running around with vampires and John was probably off getting himself in trouble.

She had hoped one day he would realise that even though he was part Time Lord he only had one life; if he did something to get himself killed he wouldn’t regenerate! Violet shook her head, sadly the one traits of The Doctor’s she wished he didn’t have was his willingness to sacrifice himself for others.

Something was bothering her, she could usually read her husband well and back in the examination room she thought he was being a lot more guarded than usual. She closed her eyes trying to recall when it was she first picked up vibes that he was hiding something from her.

Picturing him standing in front of her, she mentally catalogued everything about his appearance. She almost had it when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Ducking into the shadows she watched and waited to see who was approaching before making herself known.

It would seem that whoever it was wasn’t in a hurry to make themselves known either. She heard the footsteps stop a few times as if the person was moving cautiously along. She waited until the figure was almost upon her before glancing out of her hiding place into the hallway.

They saw each other at the same time, both jumping back startled as they locked eyes. Violet could tell by the grey colour of the man’s skin that it was David. He seemed to be ready to turn around and get away from her but she grabbed his arms, “please don’t run off,” she pleaded.

“You aren’t safe around me,” he was breathing hard as if speaking was a great effort.

“I know you wouldn’t harm me,” Violet assured him.

“You can’t know that for sure,” he countered trying to pull away from her but she held on tight.

“You’re still you, even though it’s obvious you’re infected,” she gestured at his fangs, “and I trust you.”

At that he stopped trying to get away and just looked into her eyes, his own red rimmed but still mostly the familiar brown she was used to, “when you cut yourself I had the urge to grab your hand and lick the blood away. Or worse!”

“But you didn’t, you stopped yourself, that just proves it, you aren’t beyond redemption,” Violet smiled reassuringly.

“What if there’s no way to reverse this?” David sighed, his face a mask of pure misery.

“We’ll think of something! We have Torchwood at our disposal, we have the TARDIS and The Doctor…once we get him out of stasis…” she trailed off.

“He’s out now, I turned the collar off when The Master and the others weren’t looking,” he smiled softly, “I didn’t let him see me, I didn’t want to worry him.” His smile faded and he looked like a lost child again.

Violet’s heart ached for David, she could see how miserable he was and so very unwell, and could do nothing to help him. Fighting the urge to let that helplessness overwhelm her she cupped his face with her hands, “I promise you, we’ll get this all sorted. You’ll be fine.”

He managed a brave smile, “you sound like The Doctor.”

She was about to reply when the sound of someone approaching came from just a ways down the corridor straining to see if she could tell who it was, she looked away, “I think it’s best if we…” she started but when she turned around David was gone.

Hiding herself among some old crates Violet heard the sound of the vampires approaching. Not like they were making any effort at stealth. The female was belly aching at ear shattering levels about her companion’s competency, The Master’s unwillingness to help and the fact that they were running around in circles.

Violet smiled at that last part, knowing the TARDIS was responsible for that, she was essentially leading them on a wild goose chase. Patting the wall behind her Violet whispered, “good girl”.

\------

John had listened intently to The Doctor’s plan without comment. The Time Lord stopped talking and waited for it all to sink in before asking, “so what do you think?”

Leaning back John subconsciously reached up to touch his breast pocket, before replying, “I think that it won’t work,” he spoke slowly, as if still going over it all in his mind.

That wasn’t quite the response The Doctor had been expecting, debate or disagreement, yes but outright dismissal?

“They aren’t interested in you, they want me,” John continued, “and they’re using David as blackmail. If they don’t get what they want they’re going to either kill him or make him full on vampire either is unacceptable!”

“I am not going to let that happen,” the Time Lord replied.

“So you say….”

That seemed to anger The Doctor, “you keep criticising my plan but I don’t hear you coming up with a better one!”

“Oh, I have a plan,” John countered his voice deadly calm, “but since I’m pretty sure you’d try to stop me, it’s best if I keep it to myself.”

“What is your plan?” the Time Lord spat out each word, his eyes narrowing.

“David’s out there, vulnerable and alone and in no condition to fight them off, you abandoned him…”

"He's not a child! He might be four years old in your time-line, but the fact remains, David is a grown man. You have to remember that," The Doctor protested, “and when I left him he was unconscious under medical supervision by the TARDIS herself.”

“I’m done discussing this with you,” John announced pulling himself up to his full height, “time for words is over with, it’s time for action.”


	19. Chapter 19

Without another word John strode away from The Doctor, trying to ignore the fact that the Time Lord was hot on his heels. He picked up his pace only to find that he was still being tracked, after a few minutes of this he whirled around, "stop following me!" he snapped.

"This is my ship, in case you've forgotten," The Doctor replied mildly, "and so I can go wherever I want. Currently I want to go where you're going."

"You should be off looking for The Master something," John gestured vaguely, "not shadowing my every move!"

"I'm curious as to your plan. You could save yourself a lot of trouble by just telling me."

"You'll just give me a 'why whatever I do is wrong' lecture and I don't need that right now."

The Doctor smiled, "so you do care what I think then?"

"No, I....it's not that.. it's....I just know that..." John replied, stumbling to come up with just the right response. Finally he shook his head, "you know what? Forget it. Leave me alone!"

"Not a chance," The Doctor smiled even wider, "and since I plan to stick close by you might as well tell me what we're doing aside from wandering around like a headless chicken."

For a moment the Time Lord thought the meta-crisis wasn't going to answer him, his dark eyes unreadable. John took a deep breath, "I'm looking for David," he admitted, "if my blood really does hold power, maybe if he gets some of that in him he won't be as vulnerable."

The Doctor, despite what John had anticipated, nodded in agreement, "that is a good first move, weakened he stands little chance, fortified he will be better able to fight them off. I'm just not sure you'll be able to convince him of that."

"I will give it my best shot."

"And after that?" the Time Lord prompted.

"I'll wing it," John lied.

"Now, you may be able to fool Violet with that innocent act, but you're forgetting I know you, you are part of me, and you can't expect me to believe that's as far as you've planned," The Doctor's voice was soft and low, "there's more." With that he leaned in very close staring into his counterpart's eyes, "just tell me."

Before John could reply the Time Lord reeled back, "oh...." he breathed out, "you can't be serious!"

Knowing that The Doctor had figured it out and the game was up John broke contact, "if you can think of another way, I'm all for it."

"I can't let you do this..."

John laughed humourlessly, "which is precisely why I didn't plan on telling you."

"Let me instead," the Time Lord pleaded.

"They...don't...want...you," the meta-crisis repeated slowly, "and besides how does it make it better for you to do this than me?"

"You can't regenerate, I can," The Doctor grabbed his half clone's hands, "you have just one life."

"You wouldn't regenerate this time," John tapped his pocket, "this is kill 'em dead stuff. I tested it back in Torchwood on a sample of my own DNA."

"Where did you even get that?"

"It was originally developed as a pesticide but it killed the plants, the animals and the humans who came in contact with it, it was an error in a formula. Torchwood kept in on hand and boosted the strength in case of alien attack," John snorted at that last bit.

The Doctor held out his hand, "give it to me, I'll take it to the lab, get a sample and work on an antidote.."

John hesitated his hand hovering over his pocket but then he stepped back, face expressionless, "nice try!"

"I'm serious!" the Time Lord protested.

"If I give this to you, you may switch it out for something harmless, and I'm not willing to take that risk."

"You have a death wish?" The Doctor asked.

"You should know," John smiled wryly, "as you're so fond of pointing out, I'm part of you." Before the Time Lord could respond he continued, "if you were in my shoes you'd do the very same thing, and we both know it."


	20. Chapter 20

"We could stand around debating this or we could find Violet and David and get on with it," John spoke, clearly trying to change the subject.

"I won't let you do this," The Doctor jabbed a finger at the other's chest, "but for now I'm letting it drop."

"Thank heavens for small favours," John mumbled just loud enough for the Time Lord to hear.

The Doctor smiled at that. He had a hard time, even now, with the idea that he had a half human version of himself loose on the cosmos, and often wondered if the meta-crisis was some sort of practical joke played on him by the powers that be. But just spending time with John, he realised he may have started out as an off shoot of himself but had rapidly, in the only handful of years since his creation, taken on the challenge of life with his own unique spin.

If truth be told, he was quite proud of him. He had centuries to come to grips with life, the man walking in front of him possessed all that knowledge and had to deal with it all in such a short period of time.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice was nagging him to tell John how he felt, but this wasn't the time or place. He just hoped he would get a chance later.

Still, he had to admit, as John rounded the corner and peeked warily down the hallway the tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips in concentration, watching his mannerisms and twitches in another was sort of creepy.

"The coast is clear," the meta-crisis announced, "come on!"

Looking back John noticed the smile on The Doctor's face, "what?"

Infuriatingly The Doctor just smiled more widely, "it's nothing. Now let's go find the others."

\------

Not that he was given to introspection, but this whole ordeal was not as satisfying to The Master as he had hoped. He hadn't given it a lot of thought but now that he had a moment to himself, away from the simple minded and frankly dull vampires, he pondered why he was feeling this way. Perhaps, he reasoned, it's due to the fact that he was not that actively involved. In past encounters he was the one doing all the machinations and the carrying out of the plots that typically centred around bringing some level of harm to his fellow Time Lord. Now he was just the puppet master.

'Planting the idea of the meta-crisis as the source was just too easy!' he fumed. And he didn't count on the mongrel actor to be such a problem. Humans usually were no challenge but this mixed breed had successfully alluded him and was causing him no end of grief.

The Master had planned to just kill the Scot but now, he would make him suffer for setting free The Doctor, and whatever else he had managed to do.

His inner thoughts were interrupted by the female vampire returning, "we've found the woman," she smiled her fangs glittering in the soft light of the console room, "shall we bring her here?"

Pretending to think about it The Master rose from the jumpseat, "yes, and she will be our bait to lure the others back to us."

"We haven't fed in a long time, we grow hungry!" Julie informed him.

"Do you want to fill up on a mere human? It would seem the meal to come is worth waiting for, but it's up to you," the Time Lord shrugged.

Before Julie could reply Violet was dragged kicking, and screaming obscenities at the top of her voice into the room by the two male vampires. Wincing at the noise The Master gestured for them to secure her to the railing.

It took longer than was reasonable because Violet put up quite a fight and the two male vampires seemed to be unwilling to just beat her into submission. The Master could have helped but he was more interested in letting her make all the ruckus she wanted, after all if she was quiet how would the others know where she was?

"Now what?" Julie asked as she cupped her hands over her ears, trying to block out some of the sounds.

"Now we wait, they'll come to rescue this 'damsel in distress'," he gestured mockingly at Violet and when they do we'll ambush them. Hide yourselves and wait for my signal."

Seeming to catch on to their little ploy Violet went completely silent. The Master ground his teeth in frustration as she went still and quiet. Thinking quickly he ordered the males to find her misbegotten offspring and bring him to the console. If she refused to scream for her own sake perhaps watching her progeny tortured in front of her would break her down.


	21. Chapter 21

Instead of following straight away The Doctor hung back, he stood rock still eyes closed, breathing slowly with his head cocked to one side, his expression intense. John had taken a few steps before realising the Time Lord had not moved. He turned back, expecting to see the twinkling of the stasis collar but aside from a slightly crooked tie there was nothing around The Doctor's neck.

"What are you doing?" John asked snapping his fingers in the Time Lord's face to get his attention.

The Doctor opened his eyes and scowled, "I'm trying to find David, I almost had him pinpointed when you so rudely interrupted me! Now shut up a minute!"

John waited until the Time Lord closed his eyes again before sticking his tongue out and making a rude gesture.

"I saw that," The Doctor chided.

"You couldn't have seen that, predicted it perhaps, but there is no way you 'saw' that! Your eyes were shut," John countered.

"You are such a child sometimes," the Time Lord grumbled. Then he went silent again. Moment later his eyes popped open, and a big grin lit up his face, "found him!" His smile faded, "he's in a very bad way we need to get to him now."

John practically ran in place itching to get moving but The Doctor didn't budge "they've captured Violet. They plan to find David and torture him to get her to lure us in."

"But we'll find him first...right?" John looked at the Time Lord for reassurance, clearly worrying about the safety of both of his loved ones.

"Right! He's this way," The Doctor pointed and then took off at a dead run.

The vampires were also looking for David but they didn't have the TARDIS assisting them. Instead she changed her internal configurations repeatedly and they wound up in the same half empty storage room filled with dusty boxes of old magazines so many times that they almost had the exact positions of the crates memorised.

Unaware that the ship was a sentient being they blamed the confusing maze of corridors and passageways and each other for the frustrated state they were in. The shorter of the two males was all in favour of returning to the console room and declaring the actor was no where to be found and have done with it.

Just as he was about to communicate this the taller one spoke, "let's pack it in, this place is getting on my nerves! If The Master wants to find him that badly let him waste his time running around this dump!"

As they headed back they were completely unaware that they passed by their prey as he lay unmoving not more than two metres from the main corridor leading back to the console room. David was curled up behind a stack of what appeared to be life preservers, breath coming in laboured wheezes. Having expended the last of his energy trying to get away from Violet he had collapsed there and moments later had fallen into a semi-conscious state.

With the TARDIS helping and his own keen sense of hearing The Doctor found David right away. As they rounded the corner he held out a restraining hand stopping John from running right into the backs of the retreating vampires.

At first, so intent on reaching the too still man, John shot The Doctor a dirty look and was about to protest, until the Time Lord pointed out the danger. He forced himself to stop even though every nerve was yelling at him to go to David and help him.

After the two vampires were out of sight The Doctor counted to one hundred before letting go of the meta-crisis and the two of them ran to the ashen faced object of their concern.

"How do you plan to get this done?" The Doctor asked as he gently rolled David from his side over onto his back, "he can't drink anything he's barely conscious."

John hadn't considered this as an option and looked around the hiding place, eyes wide, "I...umm..." he stammered. Then he went quiet, obviously revising his plan, "help me get him upright..."

The Time Lord lifted David up to a semi sitting position as John undid the buttons on the cuff of his jacket and pushed the sleeve up to reveal his arm. With that he started feeling in his pockets, "damn! They took my pocket knife. I don't suppose you have one?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I never carry weapons..."

John resisted the urge to slap the smug look off of the Time Lord's face. Instead he raised his wrist to his mouth, bit down hard and a trickle of blood ran down his chin. Then positioning his now bleeding arm over David's lips he commanded, "open his mouth!"


	22. Chapter 22

Violet stood mute, even though the sound of her heart pounding in her head seemed loud enough to wake the dead. The Master and the female vampire circled her talking as they went, "who should we kill first?" Julie asked yet again.

The Time Lord shrugged indifferently, "to me it's not the order it's that you get the job done. The Doctor is to be left unharmed. I want him to have a front row for the festivities but I do not want him touched. He does not get the luxury of unconsciousness or any other form of release."

Just then the two males returned, empty handed. Julie was the first to notice them, "where is he?" she hissed.

"We looked everywhere, mistress, he was no where to be found!" the shorter of the two males supplicated.

The Master cut him off, "he's half dead, his scent is very unique and surely not invisible, what sort of inept hunters are you? It's a wonder you haven't starved to death!"

At this the vampire lunged at the Time Lord as if to tear him limb from limb but the taller one stopped him, "this in fighting isn't going to help us," he intoned in a soothing voice, "the prey has hidden himself well, and we were unable to get out of what appeared to be a never ending series of storage rooms..."

The Master snorted at this, silently cursing the TARDIS and her overreaching protective behaviour, but said nothing.

Julie, however, was not so silent "go out and find him," she commanded, "and do not return empty handed again or their will be consequences!"

For a delicious moment The Master saw the resentment like a match flare behind the eyes of the two males, the taller one's mouth opened as if he planned to offer resistance and the short one's jaw clenched in a tight line but then both slipped a mask of obedience on their features and nodded before taking their leave.

\----------

The Doctor forced David's mouth open and held him up to John's bleeding wrist but nothing seemed to be happening. The actor's teeth were the normal compliment, no fangs apparent and the drops of blood kept hitting him on the cheek and neck as he thrashed in his half awake state, trying to get out of the arms that held him tightly.

"This isn't working," John sighed and sat back on his knees, completely frustrated. Both men were lost in their own thoughts momentarily.

Then John smiled, "I've got it!" he took two fingers and dipped them into the blood running from his arm and then stuck the now coated digits into David's mouth. After repeating this a couple of times he nodded, "ah there they are," he gestured at the fangs now apparent at the edges of the actor's lips.

This time when he placed his wrist near the semi-conscious man he was latched onto. He felt the sharp teeth pierce his skin, but resisted the urge to pull away; instead he cradled the actor in his lap, slowly rocking him as he fed.

After a while John started to feel ill, "enough," he gasped trying to get his arm out of the tightly grasping fingers and deeply embedded fangs. The harder he pulled, the stronger the resistance, black spots started to swirl on the edges of his vision and he began to feel dizzy.

"Get him off," he pleaded.

The Doctor had been watching this all with wide eyes and an expression somewhere between fascination and horror and it took him a few seconds to process what the meta-crisis had just said. Shaking his head to clear the fugue he pushed his fingers between John's arm and the clenched jaws and pried them apart. As he did so David's eyes finally opened, the bright red glow almost made him lose track of what he was supposed to be doing but he quickly recovered. 

As John was finally freed he scrambled away from the actor and braced himself against the far wall. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his wrist knotting it tightly and closed his eyes breathing hard. 

Seeming to finally catch on David looked in horror at the Time Lord and the still panting John, "what did you just do?" he asked.

"You were dying," John countered, his voice sounding shaky and weak.

David pushed The Doctor away from him and stood up, his face a mask of anger, enhanced by the red of his eyes he almost looked demonic. With a cry of despair he bent over making retching sounds trying desperately to purge the blood from his stomach, but he couldn't force himself to be sick even when he put his fingers into his throat hoping to trigger the gag reflex.

The Doctor got to his feet and put his arm around the now trembling actor, "he did that to save your life, that blood now coursing through your veins is what the vampires are willing to kill for. I know you don't believe this now, but it was for your own good."

John struggled to stand up, swaying on his feet, "now we need to find Violet," he announced as he stumbled, almost falling into the wall.


	23. Chapter 23

The smell of fresh blood was distracting. It made him feel ill and yet somehow strangely excited which made trying to listen to The Doctor and John talk about their plans very hard to do. The only thing he wanted to do was grab John and drink from him again. The imagery taunted the edges of his mind gnawing at him until he wanted to scream.

Unaware he was doing it David licked his lips repeatedly, as if he was still savouring the taste. Finally catching himself he stopped and tried to concentrate on something else.

Even though John had seemed like he was about to pass out earlier, the further they walked the more colour came back into his face and he seemed to be almost completely recovered as they reached the door of the console room.

As if he had been reading David's thoughts John smiled at him, "I'm a quick healer," he laughed removing the handkerchief from his wrist and showing the almost completely unmarked skin underneath. All that remained to show that the biting had occurred was two small bruises almost lost in the freckles on the underside of his arm.

The Doctor stopped at the door, "you remember what you have to do?" he asked David, staring into his still red rimmed eyes, "it's very important that you stick with the plan."

"I remember," David nodded, "I won't let you down."

John patted him on the shoulder, "of course you won't," he spoke reassuringly. Then he and The Doctor headed up one of the ramps leading to the upper level and David got into position.

The two male vampires had just rounded the corner, ready to once again declare that the prey had disappeared when they saw a crumpled form just outside the console room door. They scarcely believed their luck as they realised the man they had been looking for was now lying in front of them, immobile and just metres from where they wanted to be.

The taller male scooped David up and bore him triumphantly into the console room.

John watched this from his perch above and made a few steps forward as if to follow them but The Doctor grabbed his arm, "in order for this to work we have to take it easy. You can't just rush in there now it's too soon!"

"They'll hurt him!" John protested trying to wriggle out of the Time Lord's grasp.

The Doctor stepped in front of John looking him in the eye, "if you go right in after him The Master will suspect something's up and all your planning will be for nought."

John went limp and after a bit The Doctor loosened his hold a bit, "wait for my signal," the Time Lord gazed down at the doorway as if he was trying to look through the wood into the console room.

\----------

After proudly showing off their prize the two males dumped David with a thud on the floor almost directly in front of Violet. She could tell he was still unwell but somehow his colour looked less ashen, 'maybe it was the lighting in the console room?' she wondered. He had been almost grey the last time she had seen him but the orange glow seemed to give him a more normal skin tone.

Julie and The Master stood next to the unmoving form, and seemed to regard him for a while, almost like they were looking at him through a microscope. Then The Master looked up at Violet, "you will scream or we will make him scream," he gestured at the man heaped at his feet, "your choice." With that he pulled something out of his pocket.

Violet was unfamiliar with the weapon in his hand, but it looked similar to the Blirayian taser they had back at Torchwood. Her musings were cut off as The Master fired a brief burst at her chest. The impact was one of the most painful things she had ever experienced. The initial shock was bad enough but then it seemed to burn a path from the top of her head down and outwards making every nerve dance and twitch.

Waiting for her to stop jerking and cursing him at the top of her lungs The Master twiddled some knobs on the device, "that was the lowest setting, I've just turned it up the highest. How much can he withstand, do you think?" he waved the weapon at David.

"You can't honestly expect me to lure them into your clutches?" Violet spat.

The Time Lord regarded her, his expression mild, "choice made then?" he raised the weapon and aimed it at David's chest.

"No! Wait!" Violet cried out, "give me a minute, please!"

"I don't think so," The Master replied, "I am not a very patient being, perhaps that is my failing, but I am not going to wait for you to make up your feeble little mind. Which is it my dear? Your husband, or your child?"


	24. Chapter 24

John heard Violet shouting and lunged forward forgetting the Time Lord still had a hold of him, “let me go!” he hissed.

“I will in a moment but first you need to give me that vial,” The Doctor’s voice was low and quiet.

“No way,” John shook his head his eyes still on the door, the silence almost as unnerving as the screams had been, “I need it.”

“You don’t, there are other options. Give it to me and if it comes to that being our only way out, then I’ll give it back,” he held out his hand, his eyes not leaving his double’s face.

“No, you wouldn’t, you’d just lecture me, we’re wasting valuable time!”

“Promise me you wouldn’t use it unless it’s absolutely the last option!” The Doctor pleaded.

“Why?” John shot back.

“I don’t know if I can handle losing you,” the Time Lord admitted, surprising both himself and the man standing in front of him with his confession.

This made John stop struggling and he smiled, “you old softie! OK I promise absolute last option.”

The Doctor sighed, obviously relieved. John was relieved too. He hadn’t expected to be able to lie convincingly enough to fool the Time Lord, but somehow that didn’t make him feel too cheery. John knew that the vial would be their only option, but just seeing the desperation in the Time Lord’s eyes he knew he had to deceive him or he would find a way to stop his plans. He was sorry to be the cause of the pain he was sure was to come, but he also knew that it was up to him to save them.

Despite his assurances, The Doctor didn’t let go of John, but continued to stare into his eyes. For a breath stopping moment the meta-crisis thought that he was still not convinced of his intentions, but then he released him, “OK, phase two,” the Time Lord grinned, “time to show the cosmos David’s not the only actor in the family.” With that he ran down the ramp and threw open the console room doors. 

As the rough hands grabbed and secured The Doctor to the railing The Master approached him, “where is the abomination?” he sneered.

“Standing right in front of me,” The Doctor replied, his words hard but his expression mild.

The Master reared back and back handed him hard enough to split his lip, but The Doctor didn’t even flinch and his expression remained unchanged.

Violet struggled in her bounds with a low growl, “let us go!” she cried out, her eyes blazing.

“Tell your pet to mind her manners,” The Master snorted, “I don’t take orders from apes,” with that he turned around and fired a shot from the device in his hand at The Doctor.

The moment the flash of light hit the Time Lord he convulsed and made a strangled sound half way between a scream and a moan, and went limp in his restraints.

“Now that you both know,” The Master intoned sounding for all the world like a teacher giving a history lecture, “how that feels, it’s time to wake up little sleeping beauty here for his turn.” With that he nodded to the two male vampires who lifted the limp David from the floor and secured his wrists to one of the struts, propping him upright.

“Don’t you hurt him!” Violet threatened.

“Or what?” Julie smiled running a sharp nail down the side of Violet’s cheek, leaving a red trail as she did so.

“You will regret it,” the woman replied.

The vampire laughed at this, “I think, mortal, that the only regretting will be done by you.”

The Master who had been watching The Doctor’s recovery with clinical interest spoke up, “call your ‘husband’ in and once they get what they want from him, I’ll let you go,” he adjusted something on the device again and aimed it at David, and pulled the trigger. The seemingly unconscious man twitched and groaned his eyelids fluttering but he remained out cold.

“That was a warning shot,” The Master informed them, setting it back to full power, “you can save him a lot of pain by getting your spouse in here. You have two minutes…”


	25. Chapter 25

Per their agreement John waited, as he had promised, before making his grand entrance. He threw open the doors to the console room, “Aww you started the party without me!” he pouted, the edges of his mouth twitching upwards, “I could have sworn my invite said four, guess I misread it.”

The vampires immediately set upon him pinning his arms to his sides and conveying him to The Master, “welcome! Now that we’re all here, it’s time to get started!”

He turned away for a moment and whispered something to Julie and then turned back to John, “this can go easy or this can go hard. Here’s the deal, these things,” he gestured at the vampires, “want to drink your blood. And you will let them, or your wife and your mongrel child will die, horribly. Are we clear?”

“I will stop you!” The Doctor called out, as he struggled against the restraints.

“Of course you will,” The Master laughed rolling his eyes, “unless you can channel Houdini, I seriously doubt that. Now don’t be rude, I wasn’t talking to you.”

John met The Master’s gaze coolly, “if I agree to this you promise to release them all unharmed?”

“I give you my word,” the Time Lord nodded.

“Your word?” Violet shouted, “your word means nothing.”

“Tell your woman to shut up, this is between us only!”

“Love, please,” John smiled at her, “you seem to be upsetting Mr Grumpy Pants…”

Violet giggled at that and blew him a kiss, then made an exaggerated show of clamping her lips together. The Master’s face clouded at this and the urge to reach out and just snap the abomination’s neck was overwhelming but he held back. 

John turned back to The Master, “I’m sorry do continue. Where were we? Oh yes, you’re going to destroy me and my family if I don’t…blah blah blah. She’s got a point though; your word is not worth the air it takes for a fly to pass wind.”

Then pretending to mull it over he continued, “here’s what I’d like to propose. You let Violet and David go, keeping me and The Doctor as collateral. After all it’s really us that you want, and then I will willingly become the main course.”

The Master looked at the limp actor still hanging suspended from one arch and then at Violet, the realisation of what was about to happen finally sinking in as she cried quietly.

“What assurances do we have that once we let them go you won’t change your mind?” Julie eyed him suspiciously.

“The same assurances I have that once you get what you want that you won’t go after them,” John replied calmly, “none. But we have to start somewhere.”

“What prevents us from just taking you now?” the female vampire asked eyeing the pulsing vein on the meta-crisis’ neck.

“You could try,” John replied, “but why have to fight for what I’m willing to give you freely in exchange for a few minor concessions?”

“Please?” Violet pleaded, gasping to be heard through the sobs wracking her body, “don’t do this!”

The Master drank in the tension in the air like he was sipping a fine brandy, “I like this idea. Set the mongrel and his mum out and still get what we all want without the extra baggage.”

The Doctor made a strangled noise of frustration, “he will just hunt them down!” he shouted, “you’ll have died for nothing.”

“That’s where you come in,” John smiled softly, “I task you with keeping them safe.”

The Master’s grin widened, “I agree to the deal,” he held out his hand, then with a chuckle after realising that John’s arms were still pinned behind him, he retracted it.

The vampires circled in, their hunger sharper now that it would seem they were about to get what they had came for.

“I’d like to have a moment to say my goodbyes,” John requested. The Master eyed him closely, then ordered the vampires holding him to let him go.

He walked over to David first, pulling him into a hug, “I’m sorry we never really go to know each other,” he whispered, into the actor’s ear, “but you have made me proud.” Blocking the thin man from the rest of the console room he reached up and undid the restraints at his wrists, “good luck.”

Then he turned to The Doctor, “what can I say? It’s been a pleasure being your semi-clone….NOT!” he laughed, “I’d say take care of yourself but you won’t, so just try to stay out of trouble once in a while?”

The Doctor swallowed hard, obviously not trusting himself to speak he settled for a nod instead.

Walking over to Violet he untied her from the railing and pulled her into a passionate kiss, “I love you,” he breathed once he leaned back. Violet tried to reply in kind but found her voice had left her as the sobs wracked her body.

John turned his back to everyone briefly, as if summoning the strength to go to his certain death, then approached the vampires, “I’m ready,” he announced, “but first...”

The vampires rushed him, pinning him against the wall. One male biting into his left wrist the other at the right and Julie at his neck.

“You promised him you’d let us go first!” Violet protested, screaming at The Master.

“I lied,” he answered simply.


	26. Chapter 26

The Master expected Violet to try to attack; he had seen the abomination undo her bounds and was prepared. As she flew at him, fingers curled into claws going for his eyes he deftly stepped aside, taking one of her arms and twisting it high onto her back.

He hadn’t been prepared for the tall Scot to suddenly spring to life and free The Doctor, however.

Once his fellow Time Lord was freed The Master let go of Violet and smiled winningly, “oh well done,” he clapped, looking at David, “you really are a very convincing actor.”

The Doctor was not as amused, in fact far from it, and backed him into one of the struts using the straps that had recently held him immobile to secure The Master to the post.

Violet ran to her where her husband was still being fed upon with the idea of pulling them off but before she could reach them first one male then the other fell back clutching at their throats. The female was also in some sort of distress and as they let go of John he dropped to the floor his eyes already clouding over.

Cradling his head in her lap Violet felt the first of the seizures hit John hard, his thin body jerked and twisted as she held on tight, “what the hell is happening?” she cried as the vampires started to convulse as well and their unholy screams filled the room.

The Doctor knelt down and opened the breast pocket of John’s jacket, he pulled out an empty glass vial, “he took it!” he gasped fingering the container in horror.

“What is that?”

“It’s some sort of poison!” The Doctor shouted above the din of the suffering vampires, “he wouldn’t tell me what it was…I have no antidote…he promised me he wouldn’t…” he broke off with a cry of frustration.

Just as he looked up the female vampire began to crumble as if she was made of fine sandstone and soon the two males followed suit. Then a wind seemed to come out of nowhere and they blew away.

Violet’s tears rained down on her now almost deathly still husband, his eyes were completely closed and his breathing laboured, and slowing. Each gasping inhalation coming further and further apart, “do something!” she yelled at The Doctor.

“There isn’t enough time,” he replied his voice low and soft, “I don’t even know what it is, and by the time I’ve come up with a cure…” his voice trailed off, “he’s too far gone, he won’t live long enough.”

Before Violet could reply a pair of hands reached between her and John, and slipped something around his still bleeding neck. A silver metallic something that twinkled in the soft lighting, it was then clicked in place and switched on. Both The Doctor and Violet looked up to see David bending over John and activating the stasis collar.

“Good lad!” The Doctor smiled up at the actor. Then he lifted John out of Violet’s embrace and took off at a dead run to the med bay.

Kneeling on the floor of the console room as if John was still in her arms, Violet tried to get herself together. When she looked up at David that she almost lost it again. His resemblance to John was not a surprise but the expression on his face as he held out his hand to help her up was so familiar she had a hard time getting her legs to work.

“Are you OK?” she asked once she was able to speak again.

“I felt them dying…” he started, then shook his head, “for a moment I thought I was going to as well then something broke the connection…” taking a deep breath he stopped talking.

"We should get to the med bay," he pointed behind them towards to door.

"What about me?" The Master called out.

"You're not invited," Violet replied and took David's hand, "let's go."

\-----

The med bay was eerily quiet, only the hum of the TARDIS’ engines and the occasional clink of glass on glass could be heard.

The Doctor had laid John on one of the beds, the stasis collar still in place but they could tell by his expression that there was something wrong. Violet watched the Time Lord as he added a pipette full of something into a beaker, mixed it then looked over at the still man, with a frown.

“There’s a problem?” she finally asked.

“A few,” The Doctor replied, “the most pressing concern is that collar…” he trailed off as the liquid in the beaker puffed a cloud of green smoke.

“What about the collar?” David prompted glancing over to see the lights were still blinking on it.

“It’s pretty specific, it is set to Time Lord biology,” he replied, “and as you know he’s not full blooded so it’s not completely able to keep him frozen in time. It’s slowing down his metabolism but it can’t put him in true stasis.”

“So he’s still dying, just more slowly?” David asked.

“Exactly,” The Doctor nodded, “but I’m working on it. I just hope that I come up with something before…” he looked up at Violet who was staring at him with her eyes wide and full of tears, “I am working as fast as I can!” he assured her.

She nodded, and walked over to her husband, taking his hand in hers and staring at the monitors, “is he in any pain?” she asked her voice hushed.

The Doctor squinted at the screen, and then his face went blank, “I don’t know…”

Knowing that it was a lie but afraid to ask for the truth Violet curled up next to John wrapping her arms around him as if she were trying to warm his cool body with her own.

David watched the Time Lord for a few minutes in silence, “how’s it going?” he asked after a while.

“The problem is that the structure of this poison is very complex it works on many levels at once, and it has the extra bonus of being taken by someone who has a pretty complicated biology to start with, I have separated out the components but there are about eighteen distinctive chemicals each with a specific function…” he broke off with a sigh.

“To sum up, not great…” the actor finished for him.

The Doctor nodded, then looked up with a smile, “you look better however. That’s good news.”

“Thanks. But I’m still not sure what this all means, am I still infected?”

“According to legend if the vampire that made you gets destroyed, it breaks the curse,” the Time Lord shook his head, “let’s hope that’s true.”


	27. Chapter 27

Not wanting to keep The Doctor from his work, or intrude on Violet’s grieving process David was at loose ends. He left the med bay and wandered back to the console room where he encountered The Master still standing bound to one of the struts.

“Come to free me?” the Time Lord asked trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

“I don’t think so,” David replied standing just outside of The Master’s reach.

“My arms are getting tired.”

“I’m sorry about that, in a way, but I’m not positive I can muster up a lot of sympathy for you right now. You tried to have me killed or converted into a vampire, John’s dying because of you and you are just generally a really horrid being,” the actor replied, staring levelly into the mismatched eyes now glaring at him.

“I’m just misunderstood,” The Master sighed dramatically.

“We have time,” David took a seat on the railing, “enlighten me.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” the Time Lord sneered, “you are too…”

“Yes, I know my tiny brain couldn’t possibly grasp the workings of your magnificent one,” David snorted, “but I’m here and I’m willing to listen, so here’s your chance to dazzle me. Win me over; surely you won’t pass on the chance to impress me?”

The Master eyed him carefully, sizing him up, trying to determine if his leg was being pulled or the he really wanted to know. He had vastly underestimated the intelligence of the mongrel, it would seem, the human mind rattling around that skull clearly had a boost from the diluted Time Lord DNA.

After it was apparent The Master was unsure where to begin David prompted, “let’s start with something easy, what do you have against me and John exactly?”

“It’s not personal,” the Time Lord replied, “for a mixed breed you probably aren’t the worst example of a sentient being, but the fact remains you are impure. Same goes for the meta-crisis. Time Lord blood is meant to flow only through pure breed veins, it’s not meant to be polluted by apes…I mean, humans. You are both wrong. He should have been destroyed the minute he was created. It was a mistake, The Doctor knew that! Every law of nature was broken at his ‘birth’ and you compound that error.”

“Ethnic cleansing,” David murmured half to himself.

“Exactly!” The Master’s eyes were alight with a righteous zeal as he continued, “and when those silly little leeches got a hold of you and figured out that little touch of zing in your blood, I figured turning them onto the meta-crisis would serve to help reach my goal!”

“To kill us both,” the actor replied, his voice low and soft.

“You really are a clever lad,” the Time Lord admitted grudgingly, “it’s just too bad you are an abomination, like your misbegotten sire. You would make a worthy pet, amusing to have around.”

“Who appointed you judge and jury over what’s right or wrong?”

The Master smiled at this, “I’m a Time Lord, that’s what we do. At the height of our civilisation we were the observers and maintainers of universal order! If you want to get technical I am more an example of the race than The Doctor. He’s the misfit, the one outside the mould, the renegade. I’m the upholder of the traditions, he stomps all over them!”

Not letting willing to get off of his soap box he continued, “if the high council had been around when the meta-crisis was created they would have sought him out and destroyed him. Sort of a retro-active abortion if you will. Even The Doctor can’t stand the sight of him, why do you think he exiled him to a different universe with that silly female as company? He may try to pass himself off as a compassionate being but even your precious Doctor can’t deny the wrongness of his existence. And then allowing him to breed? That just compounds the mistake.”

“We both exist now, why can’t you just come to terms with that and leave us alone?” David asked keeping the anger he felt bubbling up in his chest from coming out in his voice.

“As a Time Lord I cannot ignore the disturbance in the cosmos you and the meta-crisis represent. You are a snag in the fabric of time, you were never meant to be, and should not be now,” The Master explained patiently, “being near you is like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. You smell wrong, you feel wrong, you are wrong!”

“So you think you’re doing the cosmos a favour?”

“I wouldn’t have put it that way, but essentially, yes,” The Master nodded, impressed by the ability of the Scot to follow his explanation.

“And this wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that if you got rid of us it would mean that it would be just you and The Doctor left and the odds would be evened up? Plus the extra added bonus of making him suffer thrown in for good measure?”

At that the Time Lord went cold, he hadn’t expected the mongrel to see so clearly into his motives, he was used to the more feeble minded apes and hadn’t reckoned on this. Caught out he was at a momentary loss for words, “I told you you wouldn’t understand…” he finally spat out.

“Oh I think I do, probably more than you would like I’m guessing,” David smiled softly.

“There is one more thing you have in common with The Doctor, aside from your dicey biology,” The Master growled, “you both are extremely infuriating.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” the actor laughed, “now that we understand each other a bit better, how about telling me the truth?”


	28. Chapter 28

Violet felt a tap on her shoulder and her heart leapt, at first she thought somehow John had roused enough to do that, then she realised it was The Doctor. He smiled down at her softly, “I hate to disturb you but I need to try something…”

As she unfolded herself from around her husband’s still form she noticed he had a foamy mixture of blood and something else on his lips. The Doctor noticed it too, “the internal organs are deteriorating…” he started then noting the horror on Violet’s face reached over and wiped the residue off with a handkerchief.

Taking an audible gulp Violet set her features into a scowl, “if he dies, I’ll kill him!”

The Time Lord raised his left eyebrow and started to ask how that was even possible but shook his head and concentrated instead on trying to get an IV line into John’s arm. Unfortunately he was very dehydrated due to be fed upon and it was hard finding a vein to insert the needle into. As he poked another hole into the cool flesh The Doctor could almost hear John’s voice in his head chiding him for treating his body like a pin cushion. That made him chuckle to himself.

Violet heard the laugh and wondered what the Time Lord could possibly find funny but decided to cut him some slack, obviously he was just as worried as she was, but would never admit that to anyone. She just hoped the laughter wasn’t a sign that he was cracking under pressure.

Wanting to whoop with joy as the needle finally found a viable vein; The Doctor hooked up the rig and then injected something into the line.

“Dare I ask?” Violet inquired eyeing the IV bag.

“That,” The Doctor explained around the needle covering held tightly in his teeth, “is just to rehydrate him, he’s a few pints low,” he grimaced as he gave the bag a squeeze, “this” he waved the now empty hypodermic, “is hopefully going to halt the progress of the damage until I can reverse it.”

The minute the solution filtered into the line running into John’s arm the monitors went crazy. The flashing swirls that Violet guessed were some sort of Gallifreyan characters pulsed and changed colours. “Is that a good thing?” she asked pointing at the monitor that was now mauve and emitting a loud beeping noise.

“Good? Well not good or bad, but it is doing what I expected it to,” The Doctor capped the syringe and stepped back.

“What is it doing?” Violet raised her voice to be heard above the din. Just as she did that a soft green light lit John from above and the monitors all went silent and seemingly ceased to get any readings. Her face went completely white and she grabbed the Time Lord by the lapels, “what did you just do?” she screamed at him.

Despite having a hysterical woman shouting at him just centimetres from his face The Doctor was calm, “that beam of light is the TARDIS locking him in time. As long as he’s in her hold he is safe. The jab was to prepare him for that. I needed to stop his systems…”

“You killed him!”

Blinking mildly the Time Lord replied, “sometimes you have to kill someone to save their life.”

\-----

The Master was quietly assessing just how much to divulge to the man sitting there regarding him with the same fathomless dark eyes of his beloved enemy. Finally he smiled, “you would be such an asset to have as a pet, I mean, colleague, perhaps I have underestimated your value. Why don’t we try to be friends?”

“You seriously have underestimated me, what makes you think I’m stupid enough to fall for that?” David laughed.

“I am being sincere,” the Time Lord replied, his smile not slipping, “you’re impressive for…” he stopped realising he was about to insult the actor.

“Stupid ape?”

Laughing The Master went for it, “I was going to say mongrel, actually.”

“Nice,” David shook his head slowly, “here’s a tip for you, until you stop thinking of me as a ‘mongrel’ or a potential ‘pet’ I don’t think there’s a chance in hell you and I are going to be friends.” With that he hopped off the railing and turned to walk away.

“How about untying me?” The Master called after him.

“Since you’re obviously so very clever,” David turned back around briefly, “I’m sure you can figure out the answer to that on your own,” with that he walked out of the room leaving the Time Lord alone.

“You will regret this insolence!” The Master shouted. Then with a sigh he shifted his weight a bit hoping to relieve the strain on his arms.


	29. Chapter 29

David reached the med lab just as Violet was screaming at The Doctor, "I pray I misheard that," he called out, "please tell me John's not really dead?"

Violet let go of the Time Lord with a sob and ran over to the actor, "he killed him!" she cried as she pulled the thin man into a bone crushing hug.

The Doctor seemed remarkably unruffled, "technically he's not dead he's being held in time, " he explained walking back over to the beakers and settling his glasses on his nose, "he was going downhill fast, his internal organs were failing and I am still not that close to a cure, he was going to die if I left him as he was."  
"What happens once you do?" David looked at the Time Lord over the shaking blue hair of Violet as she soaked his shirt and he held her in his embrace.

"I am not really sure," The Doctor admitted, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, "I'm hoping that the antidote will reverse the damage and allow him to be completely cured, but I've never actually done this before, so it's all untested."

Not too surprisingly Violet was not cheered by this and grabbed David so tightly he thought his ribs would crack, and her fingers dug into his shoulders, "I think it would be best," he looked down at her, "if you took a break from here for a while, come on, let's go get some tea."

At first she resisted leaving the med bay but finally gave in, realising that David was probably right, hovering over The Doctor wasn't getting her anywhere. It was times like these when it was so painfully apparent he was not human, which was startling because he usually did such a good job at masking his alien-ness. Maybe she was being too hard on him, he was striving to save John's life, she just wished he could understand that she needed some attention too.

As if he had read her thoughts David spoke up, "once The Doctor has a puzzle to solve or a mystery to unravel he seems to lose sight of everything else." When she didn't reply he continued, "I am sure he doesn't mean to be so abrupt with you, he's just very focused on finding the antidote."

Violet nodded; "I know, I just wish..." she broke off, taking a deep breath seemingly unwilling to finish that sentence.

Knowing that if she wanted to talk she would David didn't pressure her to continue; instead he focused on making a cup of tea for her and some coffee for himself. Once they were finished he handed the tea to Violet and took a bracing sip of the coffee.

The tea seemed to revive her somewhat, "it's funny John's only been in my life for a few years but I feel like he's always been there,” she sighed, "I can't remember me without him."

Aware that she needed to talk David just waited for her to gather her thoughts without comment.

"He's really come into his own, at first he was a mirror image of The Doctor, and each time he'd catch himself saying or doing something that was pure Doctor he'd look both confused and disgusted with himself. He's really grown a lot in the short time he's been in existence. He's funny has a wicked sense of humour, is amazingly thoughtful, at least once a week he makes a full on fry up breakfast in bed for me, complete with a bowl of violets on the tray..." she choked up at that last bit and her eyes filled with tears, "I just wish..."

Gulping some of the tea she winced as the hot liquid burned her tongue, "I just wish he'd get it through his thick skull that he doesn't have the luxury of regenerating."

There was nothing he could say to make her feel any better, so David just nodded and waited for her to talk herself out. She looked up into his large dark eyes and had a momentary hitch in her breath as she flashed on John giving her that same look when she was hurting.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "you would really have liked him, you have his sense of humour..." she gasped as she realised she was referring to John in the past tense.

"I do like him," David replied, "and I know The Doctor will find a cure and I'll have the chance to get to know both of you a bit better."  
Violet smiled sadly, "it's really sweet of you to say that, I know it's been a bit odd, given the circumstances..."

"Odd hardly covers it," he smiled back, "but I probably could have handled it a bit better."

"You are fine, I can't even begin to imagine what you must think of us," Violet reached out and cupped the side of David's face, "the fact that you don't hate us for what we did, is amazing."

"I'd hate you less if you brought me some of that tea!" The Master's voice called out.

"I keep forgetting how keen Time Lord's hearing is," David laughed, then gesturing vaguely at the doorway, "should we take him some?"

"Up to you, with all he's done I'd be more likely to slip something in it to make him very ill, but if you want to go ahead," Violet shook her head as David poured a cup of tea and added cream and sugar to it, "you really are a nice man, even after what he's pulled on you you're making him tea?"

The actor shrugged, "I keep hoping that if he sees others behaving in a decent manner maybe it'll rub off on him."

"I wouldn't count on it," Violet snorted as he started to leave the room carefully carrying the full cup of tea.

"Oh, I don't, but I have to try," David admitted as he walked towards the console room.


	30. Chapter 30

It would be hard to say if Violet would have been pleased to see how effected The Doctor was by the events or would have been more worried. As soon as she and David left the med bay he stopped working and whipped off his glasses, throwing them to the countertop and rubbed his eyes. His hearts were sinking as each test of a possible antidote for the poison failed, and he was so close to the breaking point. He cursed the maker of the poison, the team at the alternate Earth’s Torchwood for further adding to its potency and last of all the man who had willingly taken it.

He shot a glance over at the meta-crisis to reassure himself that the TARDIS was still doing as he had commanded, the soft light indicating that he continued to be held in time.

The Doctor had thought that the voice, John’s voice, in his head was just a figment of his often overly active imagination but it had grown in persistence. He was used to the cosmos’ chatter and noise but this was more immediate and insistent.

He had often wondered what would take place when his half human clone, his life span being briefer than that of a Time Lord, passed over. Would the part of John that was essentially The Doctor come back to him, would they merge or would it be lost forever?

Now, he smiled ruefully, he was getting a taste of the answer.

Being nagged to death from the great beyond wasn’t quite what he had pictured, however. Impressively at no time did the voice in his head beg for him to save his life, even though it did seem highly and inappropriately amused at his failures in coming up with an antidote, adding a very infuriating “I told you that wouldn’t work” at key points.

No, the primary theme was to ensure Violet was kept safe, and that she and David would be looked after. The Doctor promised the voice he would do his best and that seemed to quiet it, for now. Taking a deep breath he settled his glasses back on his nose and turned back to the latest attempt, begging the voice to be patient.

\--------

The Master attempted a smile as David approached, cup of tea in hand, but it came off more as a cross between a sneer and a grimace, “thank you my dear boy,” he cooed, “you are a prince among men.”

“Right,” David replied, obviously not swayed by the Time Lord’s charm, “I put in two sugars and cream, it’s probably a bit hot yet, do you want it now?”

“If you untie me I can help myself,” The Master nodded at the restraints, and tried again to smile.

“Not a chance,” the actor replied, shaking his head slowly, “but I will hold it for you.”

“I’m unarmed, The Doctor has locked the TARDIS controls against me and the vampires are gone, you have nothing to fear,” The Master chuckled.

“Oh, I’m not afraid of you,” David looked him straight in the eye, “but I’m also not ready to let you out either. I think when The Doctor is ready; he’ll free you, until then…”

Seeing the resolute look in the very dark eyes staring into his The Master decided to play along for now. Setting his features in an oily smile he demurred, “I think that tea is cool enough now, my dear boy, if you come a bit closer I can get a taste, I’m parched.”

Hesitating, just for a moment, David stepped in closer and held the cup up to the Time Lord’s lips. The Master took two sips before leaning back, “I think you and I would make a good team,” he sighed, “it’s a pity you align yourself with the one being who will do nothing to advance your station in life.”

“I’m happy where I am, thank you,” the actor replied moving out of The Master’s reach.

“There must be something you want; everyone has that certain thing that they dream about?”

David laughed, “so now you’re Father Christmas?”

“I am good to my allies and friends,” The Master replied keeping the annoyance he felt out of his voice, or so he hoped.

“Out of curiosity just how many friends do you actually have?”

That shut the Time Lord up; he clamped his mouth closed with an audible click. He took time to regroup before speaking, “you could do worse than to be on my good side!”

“I can’t imagine,” David replied, “now do you want more of this?” he held the cup of tea up, “or are we done?”


	31. Chapter 31

Violet watched the exchange between David and The Master, a wide grin on her otherwise exhausted face. She had followed David into the console room unwilling to let him out of her sight, as he seemed like her only hold on life at the moment.

She hung back in the shadows and listened. The Master could be very persuasive, she recalled the first time she had met him, he was quite intimidating. She had kept her exterior self calm but inwardly she was a quivering mess as his mismatched eyes glared at her. If The Doctor hadn't been there she was sure she would have run away as fast as her legs could carry her. It was only his steadying hands on her shoulders that stopped her.

David seemed unafraid. Despite everything the Time Lord had done to him, he was willing to treat him like he was not the monster Violet saw him as, in her mind he was evil incarnate. Watching the thin man gently holding the cup up to the fearsome Master's lips and not back down was damn impressive. 

'He must get that from John,' she mused.

That gentle yet strong as steel personality, the ability to be kind to beings who really didn't deserve kindness, didn't come from her. Her capacity for forgiveness wasn't that great. She winced remembering how many times she was down right horrid to her husband. How in fits of rage at something he had nothing to do with she would sometimes lash out at him. And how each time he would take what she had to dish out, patiently waiting for her to regain control, and then tell her how much he loved her.

Her eyes filled with tears again, and she turned away from the now blurry figures to make her way back to the med bay.

\-------

The Doctor's eyes were blurry too, not from tears but from fatigue. The vial was almost empty it was getting harder and harder to get enough of a sample to test antidotes on and he was running out of ideas as well.

The voice in his head was not helping by deciding to sing "It's a Small World" over and over in his mind.

"If you know what the antidote is!" he snapped speaking aloud, "then tell me?"

'And spoil all your fun?' the voice asked, stopping mid-verse.

"Do you want to live or not?" The Doctor sighed.

'You do realise you are talking to yourself, right?' came the amused reply.

"Fine!" the Time Lord hissed, "if you want to help, do, if you don't just shut up and leave me to my work!"

'I'm not the one arguing with myself,' the voice chuckled, 'but if you really want a clue, look down.'

The Doctor looked down, all he could see was his hands, a bit shaky from being worried and tired, and the syringe he had used to inject the drugs into John's IV line, "what am I supposed to be looking at?"

'It's a world of laughter...a world of tears...' the song started up again.

"If that song gets stuck in my head I'll kill you," The Doctor breathed out.

'Now, wouldn't that be something. Cure me; nurse me back to life only to kill me over a song? Rational thinking there Doc,' the voice laughed.

Just then Violet came into the room, "who are you talking to?" she asked looking around the med bay.

The Doctor glanced up, "myself it would appear."

"And you were threatening yourself as well?" Violet took two steps towards the Time Lord and stopped, "what song is it that's stuck in your head?"

"It's a Small World," the Time Lord sighed.

Violet let out a laugh at that, "John tends to sing that or whistle it when he's working on something, when he built our shed I thought our neighbours were going to come over with pitchforks and flaming torches! I even threatened to glue his lips together!"

The Doctor shot a look over Violet's shoulder at the still form on the medical table, bathed in a beam of light, 'if I had a way to do the psychic equivalent of that I would' he thought, just as the second verse started up.

Taking a seat on one of the benches nearby Violet fell silent, not wanting to keep The Doctor from his work. She was dying to know how things were going with his experiments but also knew if he had a antidote she would know. It was hard to keep quiet but it was also imperative to not interrupt.

"My arms!" The Doctor shouted out of the blue, "he meant my arms! The veins within specifically!" With that he reached into a drawer, pulled out a fresh syringe and pushed up his sleeve.

Violet jumped at the sudden noise, "what are you talking about?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later!" he tapped the soft flesh on his inner arm and then plunged the needle in extracting a full syringe full of his own blood. Then carefully swabbing the vial for another sample he put that and a few drops of his blood onto the slide. Taking just a moment to place a bit of tissue on his arm, to stem the bleeding, he leaned forward to peer into the microscope.


	32. Chapter 32

"So your blood is the antidote?" Violet chattered excitedly trying to peer over The Doctor's shoulder.

"Hardly," the Time Lord replied, voice sympathetic, "this stuff is too powerful, but I do have an advantage in that my immune system my ability to fight off your typically 'fatal to humans' types of poisons is much greater than most. If I can isolate that, and somehow enhance it we may be in luck ...."

"You don’t sound positive,” Violet groaned.

“It’s the best chance we have!” the Time Lord replied not looking up from the microscope, “if I just…” he reached into a drawer and pulled out a small jar tapping some of the contents onto the slide, “ah! Gotcha!” he chortled, then proceeded to mumble to himself. 

Only catching every third word, she was not encouraged so Violet retook her seat on one of the benches, hoping and praying The Doctor was on to something.

It seemed like days had passed but it had only been mere minutes when the Time Lord stood up, his face in a childlike grin, holding aloft a test tube.

“Voilà!” he shouted startling Violet out of her thoughts, “the antidote!” she was about to congratulate him but then he amended, “or so I hope.”

“You aren’t sure?” she asked her heart sinking.

“Well, the problem is that I had only a limited sample of the poison left, not sure if it was enough to be positive this will work, but it’s really our last chance. I have nothing but fumes left in the vial and it seemed to do the trick,” he ran his free hand through his hair, “and really what do we have to lose?”

“Only John’s life!” Violet gritted her teeth trying not to scream at the Time Lord. His casual attitude regarding her husband’s well being was beginning to pluck at her one remaining good nerve.

The Doctor set the test tube down and walked over to her, “believe me, if I didn’t think this had a chance, I wouldn’t even suggest this,” he bent down to look into her eyes, his hands on her shoulders, “you do trust me don’t you?”

She nodded, but that didn’t seem to reassure him, “I need you to trust me,” he pressed on.

“I do trust you,” she finally admitted. 

“Good!” he smiled and straightened up, “now the timing is going to be tricky. Once the TARDIS releases him from her hold, all the things that were killing him will be back into play, I hope this works and works quickly!”

The Doctor filled a syringe from the test tube and walked over to where John lay motionless bathed in the soft light. He stood still, eyes closed, for what seemed to Violet like an eternity. She almost wondered if the light had now held him stopped in time, but she could see his chest rise and fall with each breath. 

Wondering if Time Lords prayed she offered up prayers herself that this would work and that it would bring John back to her, unharmed. 

As if reading her thoughts The Doctor spoke, “this may not do the job, I won’t lie to you. Even if it does he may still have some recovery time, but it’s our best and only chance.”

Violet nodded, “I won’t hold it against you, at least you tried.”

The light holding John suddenly cut off and The Doctor swiftly injected the solution in the IV line and then stepped back.

At first nothing seemed to happen John was still deadly quiet and not breathing. The monitors showed nothing. The only sounds in the room were the soft hum of the TARDIS' engines and the deafening sound of her own heart pounding in Violet's chest.

What seemed like hours ticked by. The Doctor's gaze focused on the machinery, almost as if he were willing them to find a heart beat, or some sign that his antidote had worked. But nothing seemed to change. The screens showed only a flat line, and it looked as if all the hope they had pinned on this working were going to be in vain. Violet forced herself to not give up, The Doctor had never let her down before and would not know, she just knew it! 

They both waited, breaths coming in short bursts, and yet nothing seemed to happen. The monitors still silent. More time passed and it was beginning to look like this was not the cure they had both been hoping for.

Violet looked away, the tears starting to burn at the back of her eyes as it became painfully obvious that John was not returning to her.

The Doctor didn't take his eyes from the still man, and at first thought he was imagining it. But no, leaning closer he saw it start. At first it was very faint. Then, the orange light flared from between the slightly parted lips, and glowed from under the closed eyes.

The monitors sprung to life they beeped and clicked like they were possessed, the readings off the charts. The heart monitor started throwing sparks and then switched off as the fuses all blew at once. Each machine failed as the orange light radiated from John's finger tips.

Then it happened, with a loud gasp and a shudder that seemed to start at the top of his head and radiate outward John sat up. At first his eyes remained closed but when they opened he stared wildly around the room, as if searching for something. 

Or someone, Violet corrected herself as those dark, searching eyes found and settled on her. He managed a tired smile, “did you miss me?” he croaked out, his voice rough and hoarse. She ran to hold him in her arms, her eyes already swimming with tears, this time tears of joy.


	33. Chapter 33

Giving John a quick physical check up, The Doctor left the med bay and almost ran to the console room, without a word he untied The Master, grabbed him by the hand and took off again. David hesitated a moment before following wondering what the hell was going on.

When they reached the med bay the two Time Lords stopped, and David finally caught up with them, "mind telling me what's happening?" he asked leaning against the wall in an attempt to catch his breath. 

The Master peered inside and scowled, "it's alive," he announced extracting his hand from The Doctor's grip.

Violet was still holding onto John tightly and it wasn't until the Time Lords came into the room that she let her husband go. She whipped around as if to confront The Master, but John put a restraining hand on her arm and pulled her in to whisper something into her ear. She nodded and instead took a seat next to him on the bed.

John pushed himself to the edge and put his feet on the floor, testing to see if they would hold his weight. His legs seemed a bit shaky and it took him a while but he was able to stand after a few minutes. Everyone was so caught up in watching his unsteady walk, that it didn't occur to any of them what he was up to until The Master was out cold on the floor. The sound of John's fist connecting with the Time Lord's jaw echoed off the med bay walls like a gun shot. 

Violet's clapping, and The Doctor's gasp of dismay came almost at the same time, both reactions seem to David to be appropriate but he settled for just cheering inside his mind due to the stricken look on The Doctor's face.

The Doctor scooped The Master off the floor and propped him up in a chair, "you need to get back into that bed," he snapped at John, "you're not done healing yet! I didn't revive you to have you attack him!"

"He deserved it!" Violet countered.

Striding over to John The Doctor grabbed his arms, "you have a new lease on life," he spoke softly leaning in close to his double's face, his eyes full of concern, "by all rights you should be dead, and by your own hand. Not that what you did wasn't noble. But the fact still stands that you are reborn now, you get a second chance. Not too many people have that opportunity! You should start this life the right way. You have the ability and the capacity to be better than this," he gestured at the still unconscious Master, "make the right choices this time." 

John looked like he wanted to say something in response but clamped his jaw shut with an audible click and just nodded. The Doctor helped him back to the bed, as it was obvious punching The Master had taken all the energy he had and he was looking pale and shaky on his feet.

Violet curled up next to him on the narrow cot, kissed him tenderly on the forehead before punching him, hard on the shoulder, "you ever do something like that again, I will have The Doctor revive you just so I can kill you myself!"

John laughed, rubbing his shoulder, "it's a deal," then he grew serious, "are the vampires dead? Is David OK?"

David stepped forward, "yes they are and I appear to be fine. Thank you for what you did, that was...wow, I don't really know how I can ever repay you."

"You don't owe me anything," John assured him, "if I had to do it again I would," his voice trailed off and he took a deep breath. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to drift off to sleep.

Violet looked at him her face set in a frown, "is he OK?" she asked of The Doctor.

"He'll be fine but he's still a bit weak, and that," he gestured at the slowly coming around Master, "took a lot out of him, he needs to sleep and regain his strength."

With that he lifted the still dazed Master from the chair and gestured for David to follow them and left the med bay. As they left the TARDIS turned the lights down low and turned the heat up a bit, to make them more comfortable.

Violet snuggled in closer. She wrapped her arms around her softly breathing husband, his cooler skin feeling red hot compared to the deathly cold of before. She lay her head on his chest, right above his one heart, the sound of it more beautiful to her than any symphony. Now that she had him back, she never wanted to let him go again.


	34. Chapter 34

By the time they had reached the console room The Master was fully recovered and ranting about getting revenge on the 'abomination' for daring to assault him. The Doctor let him go on for a bit before holding his hand up, "you started it. You engaged those vampires to kill him, I would say given that, you got off easy!"

This seemed to surprise The Master who just stopped mid-diatribe and looked incredulously at his fellow Time Lord, at a complete loss for words.

Taking the opportunity while The Master was still silent, The Doctor turned to David, "time to get you back to the filming, I think. I have set the coordinates to be just minutes after we took off the first time. I need to check up on Miranda to be sure she's OK...."

After twiddling a few knobs, he continued, "then I need to drop off those other two," he nodded in the general direction of the med bay, "and then deal with him," he pointed at the still silent Master.

"Sounds like a busy day," David offered with a laugh.

"Oh yes!" The Doctor grinned, "but luckily I have a time machine!"

Seeing that the Time Lord was busy David headed back to the med bay. John was awake again and sitting up on the edge of the bed, while Violet was nagging at him to lay back down.

Catching sight of the actor, John grinned, "save me!" he laughed.

"Oh I think you deserve a bit of that," the actor smiled.

"You're no help," John sighed dramatically, grimacing.

"He knows I'm right!" Violet added.

"We're landing," David quickly changed the subject, "back to New Mexico to drop me off to finishing filming, so this is goodbye for now. I'm going to miss you both. I was thinking that if, The Doctor is OK with it, I'd like to sometime in the future..." he broke off not quite sure how to continue that sentence.

John smiled softly, "we'd love to have you visit us again. Maybe when you have some down time or can convince The Doctor, which by the way, good luck with that, we'd be honoured."

The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS landing filled the room. And everyone went silent. So much they wanted to say it was hard to figure out where to start.

\------

Miranda had just turned away to follow the vampire, Dmitri, back into the hotel from the car park. The TARDIS had winked out of sight, the vampires inside and most likely in control just seconds before.

At first she thought she had imagined it, but no, when she turned back around she could see the TARDIS reappearing! Her heart pounded, what would the doors open to reveal? The vampires, empowered and in charge? The Master's gloating face?   
In precaution she pulled Dmitri into the shadows of the dimly lit car park, behind a lamp post and waited.

The doors opened, standing in the doorway was a wonderfully familiar tall figure, grinning ear-to-ear clad in a brown pin striped suit. Miranda ran to him, pulling him into a tight hug, "you're back!"

He lifted her off the ground swinging her around and chuckled, "of course I am! Was there any doubt?"

Dmitri stepped out of the shadows, "where are the others?"

"They blew away," The Doctor set Miranda down and his face grew serious, "they're no longer a threat."

"And David? Is he OK?" Miranda asked.

"He's fine, go see for yourself!" the Time Lord gestured at the open doors. 

Not needing to be told twice she hit the ground running, disappearing into the TARDIS calling over her shoulder, "where is he?"

"The med bay," The Doctor called over his shoulder.

"They blew away?" Dmitri asked when the two of them were alone.

"They attempted to feed on someone who took a very potent poison and it killed them," the Time Lord explained.

"We're immune to poisons!"

"Not this one you aren't. But don't worry, if you keep on the path you're on currently this will never be an issue."

Dmitri paused, "I hope not. Well, Doctor, again it has been interesting. If our paths cross again I hope it's under more pleasant circumstances."

"You will keep David safe," The Doctor countered, it was obvious this was not a request more of an order so Dmitri just nodded, and turned to walk away.

As the vampire disappeared into the shadows The Doctor heard a scream from inside the TARDIS. He closed the doors with a slam and ran up the ramp towards the sound.


	35. Chapter 35

As he approached the med bay The Doctor could make out a jumble of voices. Like everyone inside was talking at once.

"Why are there three of you?" Miranda was demanding, her weapon drawn. Holding it on John and David, while Violet attempted to explain.

The Doctor laughed, "put the gun down, everything's all right!"

"Who is he?" Miranda didn't lower the weapon but seemed to relax a bit in the presence of the Time Lord.

"He's John, he's the ah, meta-crisis, I know you were told of his existence," The Doctor spoke in a quiet soothing voice. 

She took a deep breath, lowered and re-holstered the gun, "I am so sorry! I didn't expect him to be an exact duplicate! I thought he was a Slitheen or something!"

"Be sensible," John laughed, "how would a Slitheen fit inside me? OK, perhaps a baby but a full grown one? I doubt it."

"You even sound like The Doctor!" Miranda gasped.

"But I like to think I have more style," John countered.

"I keep telling him he could do with a wardrobe change once in a while," the woman laughed, finally succumbing to John's charms.

Violet stepped forward, and introduced herself, "I've heard so much about you," Miranda smiled, "it's an honour to finally meet you!"

John grinned, "now why couldn't I have been cast off to the alternate Earth with someone as lovely as you?" he joked. 

Violet pretended to be offended, and smacked his arm, "behave yourself!"

Just then The Master strolled in, "oh, I hate reunions," he grumbled.

David laughed, "you're just upset because no one is hugging you. Perhaps we should give The Master group hug!"

The Time Lord recoiled as if it had been suggested that he get dipped in honey and fed to fire ants, "don't even try it!" he hissed backing away.

John watched his exchange with a very amused expression with his arm around Violet's shoulders. She caught his gaze and smiled too, "we did good, didn't we?" she half whispered to him.

Miranda came over and took Violet's hand in hers, "we have so much to talk about, just us girls," and with that the two women found a quiet corner to chat.

"Now that could be bad," John walked over to The Doctor, "the ladies are comparing notes!"

The Doctor looked stricken at the thought, and kept glancing over at them, "what do you think they're talking about?"

"You, would be my guess," John replied a delighted grin on his face, "you're in for it fella."

Just then their attention was caught by The Master running past them and out the door. "Wonder what that is all about?" The Doctor asked watching his fellow Time Lord's hasty exit. 

David sauntered over, "I think I did that," he offered, "all I said was that he looked tense and offered to give him a back rub....starting with his neck."

Just as everyone was starting to say their goodbyes Violet's mobile rang, she answered it in a quiet corner of the medbay and shut it with a loud click once the conversation was over. She walked over to John and whispered something in his ear. Her husband's eyes got very wide and he whispered something back.

Then they both walked over to The Doctor spoke to him and as they did he nodded grimly, then turned to Miranda, "we can drop you off at unit but it's time for us to go."

Miranda understood the tone well enough, she smiled, "I can find my way myself, but thanks," she hugged everyone and hastily left the TARDIS.

"You," he gestured at the actor, "have a choice either you can come with us, or Miranda could probably drop you off at the film set. We're going to alternate Earth..."

David weighed his options, knowing full well that the Time Lord could return him in time so that it would appear he had never left, and his previous visits to the alternate Earth were a bit brief and vague in his mind. It was obvious he couldn't turn this down, he replied, "I'll come with you. But mind explaining what the big hurry is?"

"No time!" the Time Lord replied rushing around the controls, "go ask your...um John and Violet I'm kind of busy."

Deciding to take the wait and see approach instead David settled into the jumpseat watching The Doctor at work, wondering what adventures lay ahead.


End file.
